Mercury Rising
by Dark Lord Gogen
Summary: OC: There were mutants locked at Alkalai Lake for experimentation. Wolverine was only able to rescue one before it was destroyed. Could he be the key to taking out the brotherhood? Set just after X2 and up through and past X3.
1. Chapter 1: Salvation

Chapter 1: Salvation

I couldn't help but notice the splashed of red against the concrete walls of my room, accompanied by a muffled female voice and alarms. Standing from my hard flat bed, I made my way over to the only window in the room, a single, thick, round window in my door, about two feet in diameter. I struggled to look through the window, as the reflection of my completely black eyes and blue face kept getting in the way. With a frustrated sigh, I put my hands up around my face to keep from allowing the overhead light in to cause the reflection, only catching a momentary glimpse of the hallway outside before a tremor that seemed to shake the entire hallway rifled through my room, causing bits of debris from the ceiling to fall into my blue hair. Annoyed, I reached up and brushed the debris out of my hair before pressing my face against the window again and cupping my hands around it. Streams of soldiers rushed past, a single man standing stationary with his back to the door, my pointed ears picking up his muffled voice as he barked orders to the passing soldiers. Another tremor shook the entire structure, throwing me violently to the ground. Thank the goddess that my mutation allowed for some kind of grace and dexterity, because I was able to get right back to my feet without a struggle.

Yes, I am a mutant, and my room, which I had come to know it as, was more of a cell, I guess than anything else. My only mutation, however, was my physical form; at age 14 I had grown a long blue tail, about the same length as my body. The color of my skin had followed suit a short time later, turning a deep shade of blue, my pupils took over my entire eye, giving me the uncanny ability to see even in complete darkness, and my ears had elongated and grew a point, allowing for superhuman hearing. My nose had shrunken into my face, all but disappearing, fingers grew longer, and toes grew more finger-like, arms elongated. My family was horrified by my transformation and pulled me out of school, practically locking me in their basement to avoid the embarrassment. My only entertainment was a TV with bunny eared antennae that only picked up two stations, and my own imagination. I needed to escape, the world was calling my name, and I couldn't stand to be holed up in that damp basement anymore. I spent months watching those two channels, and found that, before long, I could mimick any movement I saw on that television, within reason. My new found ability gave me the perfect outlet to escape, as I smashed out the basement window, and sprinted away from the house before I was noticed missing.

Before long, after disturbing the patrons of several local coffee shops, military helicopters surrounded me in an open field as I left a barn I had spent the night in. A stout man, who was apparently getting up there in age, and introduced himself as Colonel Stryker, offered me a place to stay, lavish accommodations, and food every day. In my desperate state, I gladly took the offer, but soon found myself locked in this cell. Poked and prodded daily, shown massive amounts of abilities that no one could ever perform, I was subject to tests and expected to perform the abilities exactly as I had seen them. Most I could, running up walls, complex acrobatics, even swordplay; in months, I had learned almost every martial art known to man, I could expertly use almost any weapon placed in my hands, I could even play the piano. I overheard the doctors referring to my abilities as muscle memory, which, I guessed meant that my muscles could remember whatever I saw, and immediately mimic the movements without having to learn it over and over again. The doctors began pushing my abilities, seeing how much I could learn in one day, testing my physical strength, which, no matter how many videos they showed me of muscle-bound olympians lifting heavy bars holding hundreds of pounds, never proved to be anything special. They showed me images of other mutants flying, shooting lasers from their hands, after which, I was pushed off of high platforms, and given targets to shoot at. I can't say that I didn't try to fly as I watched the cold, concrete floors rush up to claim me, flailing my hands and legs, even my tail to find something to grasp, but when I was given targets to shoot at, I simply looked at the doctors and laughed.

This left me here, exhausted after nearly 16 hours of testing, and left in my room to rest until the scientists came back to drag me to the testing facilities and see what else I could do. The constant blood samples, and overexertion had left my blue color more pale, and me thin to the point of being sick. Another tremor shook my room violently, and it was all I could do to stay on my feet, stumbling backwards away from the door. This wasn't one of the normal evacuation drills, something was terribly wrong. I pounded on the door with my fists, my claws digging into my palms without notice, fear gripped me.

"Hey! Let me out of here!" I screamed, my voice echoing off of the concrete walls, reverberating loudly into my own eardrums. I doubted that the man on the other side of the door could hear me, as I pounded frantically, and screamed over and over again. He turned at last, shooting me a callous glance through the thick glass before taking off down the hall after the last private hurried past. I sunk down against the door, laying my head against it, as the most violent tremor yet shook the room, cracking the floor beneath me. Water began to rise up from the crack, and before long I was standing up to my ankles in what smelled like river water. I stood again, and kicked at the door, but it stood firm. All of a sudden, a rather stout man, sporting dark colored muttonchops and a feral look in his eyes, appeared in the window. A cheroot cigar stuck between his teeth, he put his hand up, balled into a fist, and mouthed the words 'stand back' to me. I stepped back from the door, watching as three long blades popped from between his knuckles and I heard the soft clang of metal against metal as he used them to slice the bolt off the outside of the door, and a loud thud as he kicked it in. The smoke from his cigar wafted up around his strange hairstyle as he stuck it back between his teeth.

"Come on, and keep up." He said, turning from the doorway and sprinting through the now knee high water and down the hall. My height hadn't changed at all in the last five years, and I stood a short four foot five when I was standing up straight, so the water was debilitating and slowed my movements down considerably, so in order to keep up with my savior, I took to running along the walls until my momentum dissipated and left me struggling through the water again. Short of breath, I tried desperately to call to my new friend, but found that he was out of sight, leaving me stranded with no idea where to go at an intersection in the hallways. I glanced from left to right and then back to the left again. 'When in doubt, go right,' I thought to myself, taking the right part of the T and jogging along the quickly filling corridors. Several metal barrels wrapped in yellow tape with a hazardous materials insignia stamped on it floated by me, and a loud rumble caught my ears. My eyes grew wide as I saw what appeared to be a tidal wave sweeping down the corridor, smashing more of these barrels against the concrete walls, breaking several of them open. Some sort of silver liquid seeped out of them and into the white water as it rushed to over come me, and turning, I tried to beat the rushing water back to the T but to no avail as it loomed over me and slammed me into the hallway floor, splashing the silver liquid all over my body. I don't know how much of it I swallowed, but when the water passed, and I was able to return to the surface, my stomach felt heavy, and it was all I could do to stay afloat as the silvery ooze seeped into my eyes.

"Help! Please," I cried weakly as darkness began to overtake me, the oozing liquid, some kind of liquid metal, I guessed, burned into my eyes, with a single sputtering cough, I fell into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2: Released

Chapter 2: Released

Awaking with a start, I felt the coldness and hardness of my bed beneath me. Had it all been a dream? I didn't want to open my eyes to find out. My entire body tingled and it seemed as though everything I heard around me was being listened to through the same concrete walls that I usually heard them through. After a few moments, as I regained completely consciousness, I could hear unfamiliar voices, very clearly. Leaving my eyes closed, I listened intently as a soft, male voice rose through the room. Just beneath his voice I could hear the gentle blip of some machine.

"He's going to be fine, it just seems that he swallowed a lot of water." He said, apparently talking about me, and addressing someone else. A softer male voice answered him.

"That's good. Do we have any ideas of what his mutation is?" He responded, his voice sounding strong, and firm, yet concerned. He must be the leader.

"No, only his physical appearance, as far as I can tell," The first man spoke again, sounding slightly unsure of himself. I could hear him flip through some papers, and I nearly moaned out loud. Not more charts and scientist.

"Well, Stryker must've had the kid there for somethin' other than his good looks," A gruff voice broke in, sounded exactly like the one who had broken my cell door open. So I wasn't still in my room. All three voices sounded distraught, as though they were trying desperately to keep their mind on the business at hand, but something kept drawing their minds away.

"I agree, Logan," The softer male voice said, "But maybe we should ask him, it seems that he's awake." How could he know that? I hadn't moved, I hadn't made a sound, I had even concentrated on keeping my breathing even so that no one would notice. My eyes snapped open and I sat up. With a quick glance around the room, after my vision had become less clouded, I noticed that I was in an infirmary of some kind, machines stood all around me and three people stood in front of me; well, two stood, one sat in a futuristic looking wheelchair. One was the same male I had seen back at my cell, now dressed instead in civilian clothes. A tattered pair of jeans, a white shirt covered by a flight jacket, his eyes were red, as though he had recently finished crying. The two others in front of me sported the same red eyes, though it was harder to tell with the other one on his feet. His skin was bright blue, and tufts of the same colored fur sprouted all over arms and legs, a pair of glasses hung precariously at the tip of his nose, and a white labcoat covered most of his body. The third male was slightly more surprising, dressed in a black business suit, a windsor tie hung from his neck over a white shirt, his legs were propped up on a wheel chair, and his head was completely bald. A soft gaze came from his eyes, which were also quite puffy and red, and a soft smile nearly eased the anxiety I was feeling.

A wave of dizziness overwhelmed me and I nearly fell off the bed, my body was still tingling very much so, although the feeling was abating slowly, it was still difficult to deal with. I slumped forward, and the blue man was by my side in a matter of seconds, helping me to keep myself upright. I didn't trust these people yet, but I could tell that they weren't going to try to hurt me in this condition. My savior wandered up to my side, a melancholy attitude about his step, he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Woah, kid, take it easy, no one here's gonna hurt you." He said, helping the blue man get me into a sitting position, my back propped up on the head of the bed.

"What's your name, son?" Blue asked softly, pushing his glasses up on his nose. I shot a defiant look at him, and sneered.

"Who wants to know?" My eyebrow quirking as I looked to each of them, no, I wasn't going to make this easy on them, not one bit.

"Listen kid, we're tryin' to-"

"That's enough, Logan," Baldy cut Logan off, a wave of his hand indicating that he should be silent. Baldy moved forward, but silently, I couldn't tell if the wheelchair was powered by electricity or something else. "I am Professor Charles Xavier," He said, and indicating to the other two, "And this is Doctor Hank McCoy, and Logan. They are also known as Beast and Wolverine, respectively." He finished. _We are mutants, like you._ _What is your name? _I heard him ask, but didn't see his lips move, it was strange, as though he were speaking directly into my mind.

I stuttered for a moment, before finally finding my voice. "H-Hermes, um... Hermes Decker." I offered, a confused look crossing my features. "Where am I? And what do you want with me?" My voice cracked, showing slightly less resolve than I originally intended which might be why they didn't answer me.

"What was Stryker doing with you?" Logan asked, slightly less angrily than he had tried to speak to me earlier. This offered a little comfort.

"Umm, I don't know, he was taking blood samples like seven times a day, and making me watch all these videos of different people doing different things, and then making me do them." I said, a little unsure of what he was asking.

"What is your ability, son?" Hank asked, scribbling on his clipboard, the scratching noises reached my ears clearer than ever, almost as if the sounds were reverberating off of metal instead of the soft membrane that should have been there. In turn, everything looked brighter, and more defined, reflections of each person stood off of them, and the reflections gave their movements away almost before they actually made them, like refracting light off of water, it was a different experience, and I couldn't quite place it.

"Ummmm, well, what you see is what you get, and I think the scientists said that I have 'muscle memory'" I said with quirked eyebrow. An understanding look crossed both Hank and the Professor's face, but Logan looked confused. Almost as though he were sensing Logan's confusion, the professor explained in lamans terms, while asking me at the same time.

"So, you can imitate the movements of anything you see?" Xavier asked, a knowing look crossing Logan's face. "Stryker was probably trying to duplicate that ability, it would allow him to train soldiers in days instead of months." He said, "Lets just hope that he didn't complete the formula before we destroyed the dam." Xavier raised his hand, stopping Logan from asking whatever question had just come to mind. "Beast, why don't you get this poor child something to eat, and let him rest here for the night, tomorrow, we'll put him in the Danger Room and see what he can do." That didn't sound good, danger room?

The three of them turned to leave, Hank reaching over and flipping the machine behind me off and reaching for my chest, I reeled back for a second. It was then that I noticed the diodes stuck to my chest and the wires receding from them and into the machine. Hank gripped the diodes and smiled apologetically before ripping them from my chest. They were sticky, and it hurt, but I only winced for a second, I felt a mixed sense of pride, curiosity, and fear as they left. I had to find a way out of here, and soon, or these people would probably do to me exactly what Stryker had. I frantically looked around for a window to break, any way out, wandering slowly around the room, stopping where the three had left the room and running my hand along the wall panels, but it looked solid, no cracks or seams, no breaks or anything to get my fingers through.

Suddenly the wall in front of me wooshed open, and Hank stood in front of me, a tray of steaming food in his hands. Well, I suppose that a hot meal couldn't hurt before I left.

**A/N**

**Thanks to all who reviewed, keep them coming!**

**Mystery Hunter: I hope this chapter answers your question a little bit, I actually meant for people to think it was Nightcrawler in the beginning of the story, and it worked! I shortened my paragraphs a little bit, I hope its easier to read.**

**I'm really enjoying writing this so far, I've had this story in mind for years, just could never figure out how to put it on paper until a few hours ago. Updates soon!  
**


	3. Chapter 3: The Danger Room

Chapter 4: The Danger Room

What happened next, I never could have expected. It only took me a few minutes to wolf down my food, which, by the way, was delicious. Although it _had_ been some time since I'd had anything other than water, stale bread, and dried meat. Hank consistently asked me to slow down, afraid that I would choke. Some of my color must have returned after a few minutes of lying there, because Hank immediately asked me if I wanted to go outside for a little while before the sun set. I looked at him in awe, outside? Maybe these guys weren't going to be like Stryker's men.

I took him up on the offer, and he lead me out of the room, through a set of tunnels and into an elevator. Everything looked so futuristic, with automatic sliding doors, metal hallways, this institution was much nicer than the other. Once outside, I looked toward the setting sun and took a deep breath of the fresh air, it was nice to be outside. We strolled slowly across the grass, the softness feeling much nicer on my bare feet then the hard concrete or metal floors. We spoke idly as we walked, I had questions, but didn't want to peruse them too quickly. Children darted across a basketball court across the field, several more sat around a fountain, and turning, I saw that we were in the front yard of a giant mansion. I shook my head and looked to the grass, these people would never accept me.

"Where are we?" I asked my first question, watching a pair of teenagers only a year or two younger than I throw a Frisbee next to the basketball courts.

"Outside a small town in Upstate New York, at a place that we refer to fondly as 'Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters'. It's not far from Alkalai Lake." He responded, offering a warm smile, though his eyes told a different story of the emotions that were going on in his mind.

"And ummm, where is Alkalai Lake?" I chuckled at the name, 'Gifted Youngsters'. Sounded a little odd to me. We approached a large oak tree in the center of the field and Hank moved to sit beneath it, but I had different plans. The lowest branch was rather high up, but not too far out of my reach. Standing a few steps back, I got a running start, kicking up from the grass and taking a few steps up the side of the tree before catching the lowest branch and pulling myself gracefully up to it. My tail automatically wrapped around the thick branch, and I squatted in the tree, using my hands to steady myself, and my tail for balance. Hank watched this with interest before using his powerful legs to take a mighty leap, kicking off the trunk and landing gracefully on the branch, taking a seat.

"Alkalai Lake is where we found you, that's the institution you were in." He responded, then looked at me with a confused look, "Do you mean to say that you didn't even know where you were?" He asked.

"No," I replied, the silence that followed was deafening, it wasn't long before I couldn't take it anymore and had to break it. "What does it mean when you say 'Gifted Youngsters?' I mean, that sounds like something my grampa would say." I chuckled. He smiled and turned toward me.

"All of the children here are young mutants. Much like yourself. This is a place where they can come and feel accepted and learn how to use and control their abilities. Many of them go to college, and get degrees after they finish here. Some of them stay to become a part of what is known around here as the X-Men." He explained, waving his hand to rather tall teenager who had just shaken a giant apple tree with his bare hands to make some of them fall into reach.

"X-Men?" I said, confused, "What are the X-Men?" Looking at several other children who were racing at blinding speeds across the field. I couldn't help but chuckle when one of them tripped over something and went careening into the other, throwing them both into the fountain. A few seconds later, they both appeared from beneath the water, laughing.

"That will all come with time, child, just be patient." He said, I shot a look at him, not sure if it was something that was too difficult to explain or just something that he wanted to keep from me. Studying him for a mere second before dropping from the tree and landing easily on my feet, I looked up to him. He followed suit. The tingling in my body had subsided for the most part, remnants of it still radiating through my extremities, but it was something I could ignore. My exhaustion however must have been evident, because he quickly suggested that we head back in.

I slept all night and through most of the next day, late into the afternoon. I awoke to Hank, gently shaking me, and saying that my presence was requested in the Danger Room. Groggily, I stood, I felt much better, but it would still take me a few minutes to wake. He lead me down the hall, handing me a leather one piece suit that he told me to put on before we entered the room. It was easy to slip into and very comfortable, almost as though it fit itself snugly to me as I zipped it. He stopped at the wall, looking me over.

"That suit will adapt to you, to all of your abilities. Its made from a very sturdy material, so it will protect you from projectiles, it will take the force of many debilitating strikes." As he finished, the wall in front of him collapsed and broke inward, revealing a large room with black tiles, he ushered me in, the door whooshing closed behind me. Wolverine stood across the room, picking his teeth with one of his claws.

"'Bout time, kid," He said with a smirk. I started to reply with a clever quip but was cut off by Xavier's voice over a loudspeaker hidden somewhere in the room.

"Hermes," He said softly, "This is the Danger Room, and here we can simulate almost any situation, we use it to train for battle mostly. Wolverine, we are going to start him off light, so don't interfere unless he looks as though he really needs it." He emphasized, Wolverine started to say something, but apparently thought better of it, and just huffed, leaning back up against the wall with his arms crossed in front of him. "In three, two one,"

As he finished saying 'one', a large, metallic robot appeared in front of me, standing about seven feet tall. The scenery around me changed to that of a forest setting, birds sang, the wind whipped through my hair, ruffling it slightly, I could even smell the pine trees around me. The robot charged, and I acted on instinct, leaping over its head, and landing a square kick to the back of it, sending it stumbling into a large deciduous tree, leaves jarred loose from the impact and fluttering to the ground around it. It turned, and aimed some kind of weapon at me, firing a red plasma bolt in my direction. I cartwheeled out of the way, smelling the charred earth as it hit the ground where I was just standing.

"My turn," I said, charging toward the robot, and dropping down into a low sweeping kick. I took its legs out from under it, making it fall to the ground on its side and before it could hit the earth, I stood and delivered a perfect turning side kick to its chest, pinning it to the tree with my foot. It reacted by aiming its plasma rifle at me again, and letting loose a series of shots that would have all hit, had my reaction time not been so quick. I ducked and dodged under them, never removing my foot from the robots chest. Kicking up with the other foot, I smashed the gun against the tree bark, and kicked off, back flipping and landing easily on my feet, returning as soon as touched the ground and smashing the robots head easily against the ground. The robot fell limp and lifeless, the remnants of its head, blowing away in the breeze.

"Good," Xavier said, "Now lets try something a little tougher. And again, in three, two, one." Several men appeared around me, it didn't take me long to count seven in all, but they were all dressed in what appeared to be ninja gi's, each one of them with what appeared to be a long sword strapped to their back. I couldn't help but chuckle, they really looked ridiculous, of course, I probably didn't look any better in a once piece leather suit. All seven of them drew their swords with a gentle _schnict _and then charged. I felt the breeze as they all swung their weapons back, and I smirked, jumping into the air, just over their heads as they struck. Three of them immediately toppled to the ground, impaled by each others weapons. Landing easily on one knee, and one hand, I reached behind me with my free hand, a pulled one of the long swords free from the dead body. Handling it as though I had been handling one my whole life, I easily dispatched the other four with three quick movements, decapitating two of them with a single slice, and then impaling the other two with a quick backward-forward strike.

Breathing heavily, I felt the sword dematerialize in my hand and the bodies disappeared, I couldn't help but feel pride as Xavier congratulated me over the loud speaker and announced that we'd be going for one more run. He counted it down and then activated. The scenery changed to a deserted street, several fires burned on the ground, and several cars were overturned and also in flames. A single plasma blast whizzed by my ear and hit a car behind me, the explosion launching me forward several feet. Before I hit the ground, I reacted, springing off a single hand and twisting in mid air to dodge several more blasts. Feeling the heat of the explosion on my back, I landed easily on my feet, only to have to jump straight up into the air again to avoid having my legs sliced out from under me by a ninja like the one before. I caught a glimpse of Wolverine, leaning up against the side of a building, now cleaning his fingernails with same claw he had been picking his teeth with. He cocked his head slightly to the side, barely avoiding the small explosion of a plasma blast where his head had just been. I came down hard, landing on the ninja's head and crushing it into the pavement.

No sooner had I done this, then the ninja and his sword, which my hand was reaching for, dematerialized. "Damnit," I said, dropping to my stomach as two more ninjas flew over my head, catching each other with their swords and disappearing before they even hit the ground. I had just enough time to wish that I had claws like Wolverine's before a barrage of plasma blasts hit the ground where I had just narrowly avoided being. My breath grew ragged and my chest heaved as I dropped into a low fighting stance. There must have been a hundred of them, if not more, as they started to emerge from their hiding places. Robots, all sporting plasma rifles that were primed and ready to fire, stepped out of the shadows, there was no time to react as they fired, several shots each. 'Oh no,' I thought, dropping to my knee and covering my head with my arms.

The sounds of the explosions were deafening, several hundred plasma blasts all slamming into me, and yet, I felt no pain. When I felt no more impacts, and heard no more explosions, I opened my eyes and stood, clouds of smoke surrounding me. 'I'm dead, that's it, I was killed by a friggin hologram!' I thought, but wait, no. The smoke started to clear, and in a few seconds I could clearly see the street, and Wolverine was standing away from the wall, as though he had began to charge in to save me but stopped when he realized that he was too late. He was staring at me with a mixed look of horror and surprise.

"What?!" I asked, looking to him. And then, I looked down at my hand. It was completely encased in some kind of metal. No, encased wasn't the right word, I could feel the metal permeating every molecule in my body, it was almost as though I was made out of it. I reeled back in horror, stumbling over a piece of rubble in the road and falling with a heavy thud and a loud clang, the sound of metal against pavement.

"Shut this thing off, Professor, now!" Wolverine yelled into the air, rushing toward me. There was no response from the loudspeaker, and yet Wolverine looked up as though he had heard something. "We have to finish this, kid, it won't stop until they are all dead." He said, pulling me with a grunt to my feet, I stood easily enough, and shook my hands, as if trying to shake the metal off.

"What the HELL is going on!? What is wrong with me?!" I asked, frantically,

"Never mind that, right now, we have to stay alive, we'll figure that out later. For now, USE IT!" As if on cue, the robots charged, firing plasma bolts as they went. Stepping around Wolverine, I used my now metal hands to deflect the shots, sending them flying back into the robots, explosion after explosion announcing their demise. The simulation ended, the street scene dissolving back into the black tiles. The door behind me whooshed open and Xavier wheeled in quickly, followed by a magnificently huge teenage male, and a female about my height, with brown hair, both wearing a similar leather outfit.

"What _is_ that?" Xavier asked, a sense of urgency in his voice, but still cool and collected. I looked back down to my reflective hands, and then back up to him horrified.

"I- I don't know, this has never happened before." I said.

**A/N**

**Not getting as many reviews as I would like, I know you guys are reading, c'mon and review! I always welcome constructive criticism!**

**Mystery Hunter: Thank you for reviewing again, keep following, a little action in this one. I figured Hermes was a good fit for him, you'll find out why, probably next chapter. Keep reviewing!**


	4. Chapter 4: Mercury

Chapter 4: Mercury

I was wandering alone out in the courtyard, most of the students were in classes and those that weren't were in the kitchens, having an evening meal. With a heavy sigh, I sat on the fountain, dipping my fingers into the cool water, watching a school of small gold fish swim up to my blue fingers and then dart away as I removed my fingers. The metal encasing or whatever it was had subsided mere moments after I had answered Xavier, just before Hank had rushed in. We had walked back to the lab together in silence. I knew that the people who had tried so desperately to help me were now questioning their trust in me. The blue beast had decided to run some tests and had taken a blood sample...sort of. When he put the syringe in my arm, and started pump out some blood, it didn't look like blood at all. It was silvery and much thicker, I had seen my own blood a multitude of times, and it had always been red. The sight of this turned my blue skin pale, and I had no idea what to think.

Hank told me that it would be several hours before he would have any results, so I had gone back to the Danger Room control panel to watch the videos. I must have watched the third trial a thousand times, each time, seeing myself emerge from the smoke, completely covered in this metallic substance. Even zooming in on my eyes, I had seen them completely blank and reflective, my ears, even my hair had turned into heavy metal strands. When I felt that watching the video was doing nothing more than raising my anxiety, I decided that I would go for a walk around the courtyard.

I was used to solitude, being alone, being stared at from behind two-way mirrors, it was part of my life for the last five years. But nothing could ever prepare me for the loneliness that I felt now. I knew that Wolverine, the two teenagers that I had seen in the Danger Room, and Xavier were somewhere in the mansion discussing what was to become of me, or what had become of me. A heavy sigh escaped my throat again, and I thought momentarily about leaving, but if I left now, I'd never find out, and I might never learn to control whatever this was, and that could mean pain, or even death for not only myself, but innocent bystanders. I had to stay, had to stick around to find out what was going on.

"Hey! You!" A female voice rang out across the courtyard, startling me from my thoughts, I nearly fell into the fountain. But somehow, I caught myself, and as I righted myself, I swore that my arm had extended into the water to catch my weight on the bottom of it. When I pulled my hand out to inspect it, however, nothing had changed. I shook the thought from my head and turned to see a rather pretty girl with long brown hair, a single strand of her bangs white, jogging toward me. She wore white elbow length gloves, pulled over a long sleeved black blouse. The twinkle in her eye as she sat down next to me would have made me blush, had it been able to show through my deep blue skin, but she held my gaze for a moment, almost seeming to lose her voice. She apparently found it a few seconds later, because she cleared her throat and spoke. "Are you the new kid?" She asked, her voice had a thick southern accent to it, it was enchanting.

"Umm, yeah," I said, suddenly looking away, embarrassed because my voice had cracked. I chanced a look back at her and saw that she still wore that smile.

"My name is Rogue," She said extending her gloved hand for a polite handshake. I took it gently and shook it.

"Rogue, that's an odd name," I said, not really wanting to reveal mine. I didn't think that I'd be sticking around for very long.

"Well, its not my real name 'course," She said "Its just what everyone around here calls me, sugar."

"Oh," I said, not really saying anything else. I opened my mouth and looked at her like I was going to say something, but lost the words somewhere between my brain and my mouth, so, looking at the ground, I started to pick at my thumbnail.

"Well, don't be rude, what's your name?" She asked, pushing me playfully on the shoulder, I looked at her with a sheepish grin, not really sure how to respond.

"Hermes, uh, Hermes Decker." I said, not very enthusiastically. She cocked her head a little and reached out and took my hand, placing it gently in her lap and rubbing the back of it. Her touch sent shivers up my spine...if I even had one anymore.

"Is something bothering you, sugar?" She asked, that southern accent falling into a soft, compassionate tone. I couldn't look at her as I spoke my next few words, afraid that she would walk away.

"I just... something happened... " A huff of frustration "I really don't know how to describe it." I finished, my lower lip was quivering now, this was just so overwhelming for me. The one thing I had always been sure of was who I was, and now...I couldn't even know that for sure.

"I know exactly what you are going through, and so does every person in this school, come on, I want you to meet some of them." She said, standing and pulling on my arm, I looked at her in awe, but stood anyway and let her lead me into the mansion and down to the kitchens. A couple of round wooden tables sat on the kitchen floor, separated from the prep area by a single island. A small group of students were sitting at the table, the two that I had seen earlier in the danger room were among them. Beyond that, a rather handsome looking boy, with blonde hair and ice blue eyes sat, along with a much younger girl, darker skinned with black hair that was pulled up into a pony tail. They laughed as they sipped on bottles of soda, throwing dice and playing a board game, one that I had never seen before. She tugged on my arm, and I followed slowly, almost reluctantly. It had been so long since I had been around people my own age, let alone people in general. The two that I had seen in the danger room looked up, immediately stopping their laughter, the girl whispered something to the young man and they both chuckled. My face grew hot and I started to pull away from Rogue.

"No, I don't...I don't think I can..." I trailed off, trying to force her grip on my arm to slip, but she held fast.

"Oh don't worry about them, they're harmless," She said as we drew closer to the table. "Everyone," She said, the other two students' attention reverting to Rogue and I, "This is Hermes, Hermes, this is Bobby, Piotr, Kitty, and Jubilee." She introduced each one from left to right, all of them offering a genuine smile. Rogue offered me a chair, which she basically threw me into, while she took one between Bobby and I. Feeling completely out of place, I offered no words, no sort of conversation, and simply looked at the table. Bobby was the first to speak, his voice soft but firm.

"So, uh, you're obviously a mutant. What can you do?" He asked, I looked at him, confused, not because I didn't know what I could do, but because I wasn't sure how to answer.

"I don't know," I said after several seconds of silence. "What can you do?" I asked, grasping for conversation. A knowing smirk came across his face and he reached his hand across the table, cupping it over the wood in front of Rogue. After a few seconds, accompanied by the sound of something freezing very quickly, he removed his hand to reveal a rose blossom made completely out of ice. I chuckled at him, "So, uh, you make ice sculptures appear out of nowhere?" I said, what kind of ability was that?

He returned the chuckle and reached over, grabbing his soda bottle. He blew over the top, a note coming from the air passing over it, and the bottle instantly froze. "No, I freeze things, the water in the air, water itself, any thing that can be frozen, I can freeze it." He said, "They call me Iceman." Somehow, as he demonstrated, I wasn't surprised, nothing at this school surprised me anymore after what I had seen today.

"And you, Piotr?" I said, looking to the massive teenager. He nodded and stood, a loud clanking noise as metal plating seemed to appear from nowhere over his skin, running from his feet right to the top of his blonde head.

"They call me Colossus." He said, even his voice sounding as though it were metal scratching against metal. Now that, was a cool power. Kitty took her cue from him, placing her hand flat on the table, and looking at it. Her hand passed through the table moments later and she brought it back up through, laying it on the table again.

"Shadowcat," She said simply, her voice sounding a little unsure. My eyes turned toward Jubilee, and she smiled, lifting her palms face up as though she was going to shrug, and just when I thought that she didn't have any abilities, small fireworks erupted from her hands, exploding in whistles and bangs.

"Just Jubilee," She giggled. The name was befitting her, the fireworks show even making me smile. "Now what about you?" She asked, I, again, averted my eyes to the table, still unsure of how to answer. I didn't have to though, Kitty answered for me.

"Oh, Jeeze, I'll tell them," She said, "He can do kind of like what Piotr can do, like, make himself covered in metal or whatever, I think Professor X said something about him being able to mimic movements or something." Her voice was exasperated, almost annoyed.

"Muscle Memory?" Bobby replied, I nodded slowly, "I've heard of that, do you know martial arts and stuff?" He asked, a nod from me again. "Well, you can't really show us that here, but show us that other thing you do." He said. I canted my head.

"I don't really know how..." I trailed off, "What Piotr and Kitty saw was an accident, I don't really know how I did it." I looked to Piotr, "How do you do it," I asked him. He shrugged those massive shoulders.

"I'm not sure, I just kind of, imagine that I am metal, I guess, and it just happens." He said, a thick Russian accent dominating his speech. I shrugged and tried it, imagined my entire body covered in metal, then started thinking that I was metal. Gasps could be heard around the table as my body became metallic and reflected the sunlight shining in the window. When I opened my eyes, I looked down at my hands and nearly toppled out of my chair. Later, Bobby would describe it to me that it looked as though my skin had turned all liquidy and silver and then solidified.

_Hermes, you are needed in the labs _Professor Xavier's thoughts penetrated my own, and I looked to the five mutants sitting in front of me. "I uh, I have to go," I said, standing and walking toward the kitchen doors, forcing myself to believe that I was me again, my skin dissolving back to its original blue color.

"Wait, what is your real name?" Bobby called after me, I turned and shrugged,

"Hermes, I guess," I replied, leaving the kitchens.

**A/N**

**Come on, people, I've got almost forty hits on this thing and one reviewer?! Tell your friends, tell your friends friends, hell, tell your dog to tell his friends!**

**Mystery Hunter: Nope, I guess I missed that part, but that's why I like reviewers like you. Hope you liked this chapter, I enjoyed writing it.  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Adamantium

Chapter 5: Adamantium

Sighing deeply as I approached the doors slowly, the walk had taken what felt like days. Possibilities ran through my head over and over again, worst case scenarios. I had no idea what could have caused my silver blood and the metallic form. With heavy arms, I practically forced myself to raise my arm and knock on the giant metal X in front of me. It split apart and slid to each side with a loud whoosh, startling me backwards a half step. It didn't take me long to realize that I had been holding my breath after I had sighed, and took in a deep breath as I stepped in the door. Xavier sat next to the door in his wheel chair, Wolverine stood nonchalantly, with his arms crossed in front of him, a few feet behind him, next to a large metal cabinet. Beast puttered around in front of a lab counter on the other side of the room.

"Hermes, its good to see you again, could you please have a seat?" Xavier said, a mischievous grin on his face. Wolverine huffed as I moved toward the bed, sitting on it carefully, looking nervously between Xavier and Wolverine, puzzling over Xavier's smile. As soon as I was settled, Xavier spoke again, his tone even and firm. "Beast, why don't you give us an idea of your findings." Xavier said, looking to the large blue man. Beast turned, a small pair of glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose, he finished scribbling on his clipboard before flipping back to the first page.

"Well, lets see, where should I start?" He flipped back through the pages on his clipboard and then back to the first page. "I guess we'll start with the blood type. I tried to test your blood type, but was unable to get a conclusive result. After further culture tests, I discovered that your blood was comprised of an organic metal. Organic Adamantium to be specific." My jaw dropped at his statement and an extremely puzzled look came over my face. My blood had always been blood before. "I studied the organics of your blood, and found that your blood had no specific tissue from any part of your body, it was made up of what you might call stem cells, but with external stimulae, such as electrical impulses, it could become much more than skin tissue or organ tissue, it could solidify and become as sharp as a blade or as thin as paper, or it could liquifiy and flow like mercury." He finished. Flipping through his clipboard as he spoke, I figured that he might have given me the abbreviated version, considering how many pages of paper he had there.

"What does that all mean?" I asked, still completely puzzled. Wolverine shifted his weight to his other foot, removing the unlit cigar from between his teeth.

"We're gettin' there, kid, be patient." His voice was gruff but interested. I snorted, he was one to talk about patience. He shot me a glare, and I looked sheepishly to the floor. Xavier couldn't help but chuckle.

"We are fairly sure we know what it means," Xavier said, "But we'd like to go through some other things, because we aren't sure how it happened, and it might help us to understand a little better." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Can you recall what happened after Logan released you from your cell?" He asked. I very rarely forgot anything so I was able to recall completely, explaining the metal barrels and the way they had been crushed by the torrent of water, being covered in it before I blacked out. As I spoke, Wolverine pulled open the cabinet he was standing next to, and pulled out one of the mutilated barrels, the yellow tape dull from the dried water, and the hazardous materials insignia nearly scrubbed away. The top of the barrel was crushed open, and cracked.

"Thanks, Vannah," I said as I finished, smiling nervously at Wolverine. He chuckled openly.

"Well, kid, when you washed out of that storm drain with these buckets, I didn't find any silver slime on you, but I picked you and one of those things up and brought it back here for testing." He stuck his cheroot back in his mouth, as if on cue, like it had been rehearsed, Beast spoke up.

"After I tested the residue in the barrel, I found liquid Admantium that had been exposed to large amounts of radiation. It was probably an attempt to keep it in liquid form." He said, knowingly. Radiation? Didn't that stuff cause cancer, was I a giant glob of Adamantium cancer?

"The mind is an amazing thing, and even as I study the brain and the way it works, I find something new every day that astounds me," the Professor rubbed his bald head, a thoughtful smile on his face. "Our brains shift and adapt, controlling every aspect of our body, and that is where your ability comes in. Anyone can learn things eventually, by doing them or watching someone do them, but your mind adapts so quickly to what it sees and feels, that you can learn things almost instantly. In this way, I think that your mind knew, even unconscious, that you were covered in some radioactive substance. It had shut down your motor functions, causing you to black out, and it took the most beneficial route to rid you of the radiation. It absorbed the liquid Adamantium through your pores, and filtered the radiation, with nothing substantial to cling to, the radiation dissipated harmlessly into the air, all of this, happening in the time it would take one to blink. Over the next few hours, the time it took the X-Men to bring you back here, your body began to reject the Adamantium, major bodily functions began shutting down due to adamantium poisoning, so your mind, again, took the next best learning step. It began to fuse your cells with the Adamantium, causing your silver blood. We think, judging by the reaction of the metal to an electronic stimulus, and the way that your cells have reverted back to stem cells, that you could shift any part of your body, including your whole body, into just about anything." He finished with a deep sigh.

"I would like to run a few more tests to be sure, but I think that he is right." Beast said, stepping forward with a small black object in his hands that beeped noisily. He raised and lowered it a few inches away from my body, a smile forming across his blue lips. "Just as I suspected, an X-Ray simply bounces off of you, like its hitting a Hermes sized block of lead. You, young man, are comprised of nothing but organic liquid adamantium." Xavier looked excited, a twinkle in his eye that only a professor specializing in mutant abilities could have.

"Wonderful! Amazing!" He exclaimed, rubbing his hands together. "Okay, I would just like to try a simple, and small experiment, if you are willing to help that is," He looked at me hopefully, I nodded slowly, still trying to take in everything that was just told to me. I was confused, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true. I was still confused though, if I were a huge blob of liquid adamantium, how come I didn't splash if I fell, or drip? How could I even stand upright with no bone structure? Xavier continued. "I believe that your muscle memory ability is still very much in tact but it has expanded to more than just being able to mimic movements, I think that you might be able to mimic transformations, and turn parts of your body into other things." He nodded over to Wolverine who methodically lifted his hand and with a soft _schnict _his claws popped out of his knuckles. A wide grin spread across his face, as though he had just heard a dirty secret. "Try and make the claws," Xavier, said.

"But how?" I asked, flexing my hand in front of my face, murmuring every word I could think of that might make claws sprout from the back of my hands. None of it worked, and I looked back to Xavier with a confused on my face. He looked at me for a second, that soft smile on his face, and then he motioned with his hands. I looked down at the back of my hand, and sure enough three claws, exactly the same length and shape as Wolverine's. My face must have betrayed my shock, because Xavier chuckled. "All you have to do is believe," He said softly. "Now, if you can try Colossus's power," He said, but I was one step ahead of him. Without even concentrating on it, my skin dissolved into a liquid and then solidified into a reflective silver substance. I couldn't help but smile, impressed with my own abilities, but even as I thought about it I looked to the floor and frowned.

"But, I suppose now, you'll want me to leave." I said, I hadn't expected to stay, but for the first time in the last five years, I had felt accepted, even if it was just a little.

"On the contrary, my boy." Xavier said with a wide smile, "I want to teach you how to control this, this will probably be a very confusing time for you, and I...we... want to help you through it." He said, "I think that with a little development, you will be a wonderful addition to the X Men, and this school. We'll get you into classes right away, and we'll start doing regular danger room sessions." An unsure smile crossed my face, was this someplace that I could fit in? After all my years of solitude and segregation, had I finally found someplace that would accept me for what I was? I couldn't help but wonder as Xavier took his leave, thanking me for my time, and explaining that Wolverine would show me to my dormitories. Wolverine lead me through the metal hallways and into the lift, which immediately ascended to the third floor. Upon leaving the elevator, we stopped immediately at a door which Wolverine knocked on and pushed open. The journey had been silent, as silent as the room was now, completely empty aside from two twin sized beds, the closet door was wide open and completely empty except for a pile of sheets and pillows on the shelf.

"Have a good night, there are restrooms just down the hall, with showers, and a kitchen on the other side of the wing, help yourself to whatever might be in there." He said, I nodded and thanked him, and my stomach was in knots. I didn't think I could eat right at that moment, and as he closed the door behind me, I started dressing my bed, falling on it and passing out as soon as my head hit the pillow. What a day.

Over the next few months, I was introduced to the X Men in shifts, mostly from classes. The morning after my discovery, I awoke to find a note that had been slipped under the crack in my door. It was handwritten in a neat scrawl with a list of classes that I had been enrolled in, and signed by Charles Xavier, I had spent most of the morning looking for my classes, but it wasn't long before I was in a routine. Danger room sessions were long and exhausting, and I slept soundly every night, but not always due to complete exhaustion, but because of comfort. I wish I could have honestly said that I felt accepted by everyone, but if I did, it would be a lie. Many of the adult X Men looked at me with disdain, as though I was taking their spots within the school. Ororo Monroe, also known as Storm due to her extraordinary ability to control the weather and hurl lightning bolts from her hands, was the first adult X Man to take me under her wing. Teaching me everything she could about leading a team and making snap decisions, her white hair and smiling ebony face was always a joy to see in her class. I was impressed with Xavier's ability to make my schedule, he picked many classes that benefited my abilities, things such as art and music. I couldn't help but grow attached to Wolverine, despite his introversion and gruff attitude, he was respectful and taught me a lot about myself. I ran into Scott Summers, or Cyclops, who could shoot a deadly beam of concentrated energy from his eyes, unwillingly, unless hidden behind a pair of ruby quartz sunglasses or his visor, which he usually only wore in combat, a few times, but he always seemed on edge, and barely aware of the world around him, we never exchanged words.

In danger room sessions, I fought well beside Bobby, Colossus, Jubilee, and Kitty, although, I got the distinct impression that Kitty and Piotr despised me. As the weeks went on, my attitude improved, just happy to be accepted by those that I was accepted by those that I was accepted by. For a few minutes after danger room sessions, I spent each night in front of the TV, watching tapes of new transformations and abilities that I could acquire, one of which contained images of a young man with angel like wings. I was able to duplicate the transformation, paper thin metal wings protruding from my back, and I could flex them and flap them just as he did, but they would never keep me aloft, and would probably only be good for gliding.

One evening, after a particularly grueling danger room session, the doors rushed open, a particularly frantic Ororo Monroe interrupting Xavier as he went over the errors we made as a team.

"Scott just left, he didn't say where he was going, he only said something about Jean." She said, breathlessly. Xavier closed his eyes, opening them only a few seconds later.

"He's going to Alkalai lake." He said, Storm wasted no time taking action, Wolverine rushing in only a few seconds later. "Take Hermes, Kitty, Piotr and head down to Alkalai Lake, I think he's going after Jean." Even as the professor spoke, Storm motioned the three of us to follow her, we hurried down the hall, practically running to keep up with the amazon.

"Why do we have to take _him_?" Kitty whined, obviously indicating me. The truth comes out, huh? Ororo stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at Kitty.

"Because, whether you like it or not, he is part of our team, and if you don't like it, you can leave now." Ororo said angrily. Kitty looked back to the weather witch, obviously hurt, and without another word, she turned and phased through one of the walls. "Are you coming?" She said to Piotr, who stood frozen on the spot, obviously battling morals in his mind. He obviously liked Kitty, but felt a duty to his team. Silently, he turned and made his way back down the corridor to the lift, shoulders slumped and head down.

"Well, kid, I guess its just the three of us." Wolverine said, the three of us turned and made our way to the hangar, which I had learned from Ororo, was located just under the basketball courts and contained one of the most sophisticated pieces of flight equipment in existence. The blackbird loomed ahead of us, its dock wide open and waiting for its three passengers. Within moments, we were taking off, flying high above the clouds. I stared out the window, wordless, obviously hurt because of Colossus and Shadowcat's reaction to my membership with the X Men. I couldn't understand what I had done wrong.

Wolverine apparently noticed my distress, and sat down next to me, placing a rough hand on my shoulder. "Everything alright, kid?" He asked, I nodded, but he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, indicating that he could tell that I was lying.

"I just don't know what I've done wrong, I'm grateful for everyone that has taken me in, but I can't help but wonder what I could have possibly done to Kitty to make her hate me so much." I said, talking with my hands as much as I was with my voice. Wolverine chuckled.

"Ya can't please everyone, kid, you probably didn't do anything wrong, she's probably just jealous." He said patting me on the shoulder, and moving to get up.

"Jealous? Of me?" I asked. He sighed and sat back down.

"Yeah kid, of your abilities or something." He said with a smile, "Okay?"

"No, not okay," I said with a sigh, "I still don't understand,"

"Listen, kid, I'm really not good at this stuff, the best piece of advice that I can give you is to keep doing what you're doing, eventually she'll come 'round." He said, getting up and moving to the cockpit to speak with Ororo before I could respond. The plane began to descend, and Wolverine moved back to me. "We want you to drop down into those woods," He said, pointing out the window to a thick bay of fog. "Stay out of sight until we let you know that you are needed." He turned back to Storm, giving her a thumbs up as we moved back toward the dock. It lowered with a mechanical sound and I stood for a moment, and looked nervously at my savior.

"Just go, kid," He said, with a deep sigh I jogged forward and took the fateful leap off the dock. I extended my wings, keeping them tucked in, feeling the wind whip through my fur as I fell, I felt an updraft and opened my wings, catching it just as it passed. Using it to my advantage, I drifted toward the fog bank, catching the outline of the trees. The gentle wine of the engines of the Blackbird still flooding my ears as it circled around to land on the bank of a lake off to my right.

Bringing up my armor as I rocketed toward the trees, I pulled back, halting my forward momentum, and retracted my wings, dropping the remaining hundred feet, narrowly missing some thick branches as I fell. I hit the ground with a thud and returned to my original form, completely unscathed as I wandered slowly into the woods. My fur stood on end, my arms and legs tingling. Something definitely wasn't right here. Off in the distance, toward the lake, I heard a soft moan, and changing direction, I moved stealthily in that direction, staying underneath the fog. I saw a form lying on the ground, female most definitely, and as I approached, I could see blood pouring from open wounds, but could also see that they were closing quickly. I tapped a symbol on the upper right shoulder of my uniform and spoke evenly.

"We've got a live one over here," I said into the com-link, after I finished speaking into the link, the symbol glowed a soft blue, indicating that my tracker was working and I knelt down by the woman to assess her injuries. She was definitely unconscious, but also definitely alive.

**A/N**

**Still not getting all the reviews I want.**

**MysteryHunter: Here's another chapter for you!**

**Kai: Thanks! Get other people to read and review!  
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	6. Chapter 6: Kailynn

Chapter 6: Kailynn

The television in front of me glowed in the waning evening light. My eyes were on the TV but my mind wasn't really following the _Secret Life of Alex Mack _starring Larisa Oleynik that was playing. I was thinking about the two women we had returned from Alkalai lake with, a tall red head, who I'd over heard Ororo and Logan refer to as Jean, and the unconscious unidentified woman. Jean was the least of my concerns. It was the beauty of the face that I had found in the woods that stuck unintentionally in my mind. Although her shoulder length brown hair had been disheveled from some sort of battle, and her eyes were closed, I saw something in her. Her body had been barely covered by a torn, black, leather jump suit, and what I could see of it was toned, and beautiful, with unblemished tanned skin, and as I had lifted her to carry her onto the Blackbird, I had estimated about a hundred and twenty pounds of firm muscle.

"Hey there, Hermes," a female voice said, wrenching me so violently from my thoughts that I nearly jumped backward over the couch that I was sitting on. I looked to the side and saw that Jubilee had sat down next to me, she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, her dark eyes sparkling. Jubilee, who's full name, I had learned was Jubilation Lee, and I had spent many hours sitting in front of this very TV, until the early hours of the morning, watching news stories about the newly enacted Mutant Registration Act, and the upcoming cure. This week was supposed to mark the opening of the first substation to offer the "cure" for the "mutant problem" in the form of a free injection.

"Hi, Jubilee," I forced a smile, though she could probably tell. She moved closer to me, laying her head in the crook of my arm, which I lifted and put around her, gently squeezing her momentarily.

"Whatcha watchin'?" She asked, looking to the TV. I could practically see the sparkle in her eye as she realized what it was. "Oh, Alex Mac!" She said, "I love this show! But they took it off the air a long time ago, where did you get this?" She asked.

"Xavier," I replied, "He said that the main character had some extraordinary ability that he thought that I could duplicate." I finished. Jubilee had been the only one that I had completely confided in about the extent of my abilities, about the accident. I hadn't really been paying enough attention to see what he was talking about, but he had given me tapes of several of the episodes. Her mentioning it drew my attention to the show as we sat there in silence, and it wasn't long before I saw the ability that he was talking about. Alex had just dissolved into a puddle of silver goo. Could I really do something like that?

"There it is, that must be what he is talking about." I said, pointing out her transformation, and pushing gently on her shoulder to indicate that she should move so I could stand. Standing, I closed my eyes, and within seconds, felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I opened my eyes, but immediately closed them again, it was a sickening feeling. I could see in a three hundred and sixty degree circumference all at once, almost like I was looking up from one of those cameras that they used in the store to catch shoplifters.

"Woah, cool," Jubilee said, reaching down to touch my liquid form.

"Hey!" I tried to say as her finger sunk into me and she pulled it out, but I realized that I couldn't speak... at all. Taking a few 'steps' backward, I solidified again, my liquid form building upon itself until I was in my original form again.

"I've got it!" She said with a smile, "We'll call you Mercury!" She said, I looked at her confused.

"What's wrong with Hermes," I asked moving to sit back on the couch. Picking up the remote, I flipped it back to the twenty four hour news channel as we settled back into our positions on the couch.

"It just doesn't sound as cool as Mercury does. Besides, do you really want people to be able to associate you with your family, no matter how much you hate them?" She asked as repeats of speeches given by Jean Grey, the advocate for mutant rights, droned from the speakers. My jaw dropped in realization.

"That's her! That's the woman that we found at Alkalai Lake!" I said, pointing to the TV.

"Oh, Jean? Yeah, she used to teach here. But you couldn't have found her, she's dead." She said, "She died when they found you at the lake. To save you guys from the flood." She finished, I looked at her my brows crinkled in confusion.

"I promise you, that right there is the woman we found down at the lake." I knew she looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on who she was. Jubilee sat up and looked at me,

"Did you find anyone else?" She asked,

"Yeah, but, it was some girl that nobody knew." A look of pain crossed her face,

"No sign of Mr. Summers?"

"Not as far as I know," In truth, I didn't really know what they had found down at the lake, aside from the red haired woman I now knew as Jean Grey. When we had finally landed, hours ago, I had helped the rest of the team, minus Kitty and Piotr, wheel the hospital beds into the infirmary. Xavier had asked me to leave, handing me the tapes, and saying that when they knew something, I would be the first to know.

I awoke with a start, my neck sore from the way I was laying on the couch. Jubilee had fallen asleep on top of me, practically, her hot breath in my blue ear sent shivers down my spine. I scanned the room from my position on the couch, trying to figure out what had woken me. Slowly dissolving into my liquid form, I moved out from under Jubilee, carefully as to not wake her, and off the couch.

I solidified mid stride and made my way down the hall to the foyer of the mansion, my ears picking up the sound of an engine leaving the garage. Students littered the halls several of them looking at me as I walked up the hall.

"What is going on?" One student asked, a younger boy, who I'd seen many times sitting in the TV room, changing the channels with his eyes.

"I'm not sure, I just woke up." I said, looking to him with a raised brow.

"There was a loud crash, that's what woke me up." He said, turning on my heel, I moved back toward the lift, making my way down to the labs. What I saw was appalling, the door to the labs appeared to have been ripped off its frame and thrown into the hallway. No one was to be found until I entered the infirmary. It was completely trashed, instruments and tables over turned and thrown across the room, a man-sized dent in the wall. The only thing that was still standing up straight was Beast, and the table containing the lady in distress that I had pulled from the woods. Several machines stood around her, blipping constantly.

"What happened here?" I asked Beast, who jumped, as though I had startled him from his work. He looked at me and just shook his head, as though he didn't want to talk about it. I moved over to the table holding the newcomer and rested my hands on the side of it. "Have we found out anything about her?" I changed the subject quickly.

"Her name is Kailynn Michaels, and she has a healing factor much like Wolverine's, only not as powerful. Other than that, we don't know much, the Professor said that she doesn't seem to have much memory of anything." I nodded at his response, heaving a big sigh and scanning the infirmary again. I couldn't help but ask again.

"What _happened _here?" I asked one more time. He shook his great blue head once more and answered with only one word.

"Jean,"

**A/N**

**hmmm... Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I'd love to read some more reviews...kind of a short chapter. Keep 'em coming.  
**


	7. Chapter 7: Magneto

Chapter 7: Magneto

Beast and I tended to Kailynn for most of the morning, constantly checking her stats and making sure that she was fed through her IV. Beast explained to me how hard it was to get the needle to stay in her skin with her healing factor, and I could see that he had to reinsert it every few minutes.

It was early afternoon when the sound of an engine pulling into the garage reverberated sharply off of my adamantium ear drums. Excusing myself politely after making sure that Beast didn't need my help anymore, I jogged to the lift, taking it to the first floor, exiting the elevator directly into the end of an argument between Wolverine and Storm. Wolverine stormed back into the garage, and I jogged silently after him, diving forward and dissolving into my liquid form as I flew the short distance through the air, landing on the ground and rolling forward quickly after Wolverine. He stopped for a moment as he slipped through the garage door and looked around, his nostrils flaring as though he smelt something. Apparently disregarding it as nothing, he moved toward one of the many motorcycles in the garage and kick started it. I was barely able to slide up the side of the bike and into one of the saddle bags before he took off.

He slowed the bike to a stop just outside of a forest nearly an hour away from the mansion, and got off the bike. He hadn't worn a helmet and I was just able to peek out of the saddle bag to make sure he wasn't looking before I slithered down the side of it and onto the grass. I watched his eyes scan the forest in front of him, his nostrils flaring again.

"Alright kid, I know you're here," He said, turning and looking straight down at my liquid form. With a silent sigh, I brought myself slowly back to my original blue form and looked at him. "You shouldn't have followed me." He warned. I looked sheepishly at the ground and said nothing. "But as long as you're here, just try to stay out of my way, stay quiet, and watch yourself." With those final words, he turned and started to run through the woods in front of him. It took me a moment before I realized that I had permission to follow him.

The trees flew by my head and I narrowly ducked a tree branch as I ran side long with Wolverine. I hadn't asked where we were heading, but assumed that Wolverine knew what he was doing. Suddenly, out of absolutely nowhere, an invisible force knocked me back into a thick oak tree. I barely had time to shift into my armor before I slammed through the trunk.

Rising to my feet slowly, I dropped into a low short sword stance, the silver skin on the back of my hands extending into six long razor sharp claws. I scanned the forest in front of me, as another invisible blast glanced off my shoulder and into a stump near my foot, causing it to explode into a million splinters. A third and fourth blast glanced off either side of my head, throwing up clouds of dirt as they hit the ground.

_Alright, that's enough of this _I thought, jumping up and grabbing a tree branch over my head in the cover of the dirt. I swung up onto it, balancing myself on the brittle appendage as I scanned the area. After a few moments, I saw it, the light of the setting sun bending around something as though a large piece of glass were being carried through the trees. I scanned its movements, it was obvious that it was searching for me, and repositioning myself, hopping between trees, finding myself standing directly over it. I dropped from my perch, landing on what I thought would be its back and slamming my claws into the first part of it that they would go through.

A rather stout black man flashed into viewdirectly in front of me. I had apparently landed on his chest, and rode his dying body to the ground, pulling my claws out of his skull with a sickening _thunk. _A high pitched whistling noise caught my ear, and I was barely able to cock my head to the side to avoid whatever it was that had been thrown at me.

A flash of white crossed my vision as Wolverine charged by me, soft clangs rang from his claws sounding like bone on metal as he blocked each projectile. With a grunt, he dove behind a tree, silently killing our bone-throwing assailant. Jogging up to the two, I watched Wolverine stand, pulling two sharp twisted bones from his chest, the wounds they left closing almost instantly.

"Stay here, kid," He said, taking off in the direction we had originally been running, but I couldn't just sit still, I jogged forward a few yards before thinking better of it and dropping to a sitting position against a tall pine tree. I sat there for what felt like hours, contemplating what we were doing here, what significance Kailynn had, and what Jean had done to the mansion. Somehow, everything seem connected, but at the same time it was all utterly confusing.

A loud screaming noise caught my ear, sounding suspiciously like Wolverine, and I looked up to see him streaking through the air at a high speed, slamming painfully through several trees before crumpling against a thick oak tree with a loud grunt. He fell a hundred feet to the ground at least, just as I made it to him. It took him a moment to rise to his feet, even with my help.

"What the hell just happened?!" I asked. He grunted roughly at me.

"We have to get out of here, now." He said, and with that, we ran quickly back to the bike, speeding off, kicking up a cloud of earth and grass.

* * *

"Magneto is planning something, and he definitely has Jean. It sounds like they are planning an attack on Alcatraz." Wolverine said to the team in the situation room, a flat table in front of us flowing into a model of the island, just off the coast of San Francisco, the surrounding area including the Golden Gate Bridge, and several buildings on the coastline.

"But what is in Alcatraz?" Storm asked curiously.

"The mutant that they've used to create the cure." Beast spoke up, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "An extraordinary little boy, has the ability to neutralize any mutant ability that comes within a few feet of him. They've duplicated his DNA, I'm guessing they turned it into a weapon." He said, making eye contact with all of us. Even Kitty and Piotr had gathered in the situation room, along with the puffy eyes of the older X-Men. I had learned on the way back that Jean had in fact killed the Professor and Scott, and left with Magneto, a powerful mutant with the ability to manipulate magnetic fields, and he was accompanied by Juggernaut, Callisto, Multiple Man and Pyro. All very powerful mutants with unstoppable force, uncanny speed and the ability to sense mutants, and split into a thousand or more copies, respectfully. Pyro was a completely different story, in the hour that it had taken us to ride back to the mansion, Wolverine had recounted to me most of the story of Alkalai lake, his most recent encounter with Jean, and his experience at the camp. Pyro was a power hungry former student of Xavier's, wielding the ability to manipulate flames, he had joined Magneto's brotherhood at the promise of power and riches.

"So what are we going to do?" Kitty asked, shooting me a glare as though she still didn't want me to be part of the team.

"We are going to have to go and protect the people at Alcatraz, if Magneto gets that little boy..." Storm trailed off. A glance at Bobby, and the sudden look of realization that crossed his face he asked quietly.

"Has anyone seen Rogue?" A single tear forming in his eye. I could tell that he knew the truth, but didn't want to believe it. As soon as the first substation had opened, Rogue had disappeared, probably to go take the cure. Her mutation was so debilitating, absorbing the very life essence of anyone she touched, whether she wanted to or not. Storm took charge, barking orders in a very commanding, but very sympathetic manner.

"The three of you, go find Rogue," She said, pointing to Bobby, Kitty and Piotr, "The rest of you, wait, prepare, because as soon as they get back, we are going to Alcatraz."

* * *

**AN**

**Another great chapter, sorry for the cliffhanger, I'm really getting into this, even _I'm _excited to see what happens next. **

**MysteryHunter: Thank you for another positive review, I'm sorry, I misused the word 'lemon' in the last chapter.  
**


	8. Chapter 8: Alcatraz

Chapter 8: Alcatraz

* * *

**A/N: Alright, finally some action for you guys, just sit back, and enjoy the fight, and remember, more to come and better action in the future ;-)**

* * *

We stared in awe as the Blackbird banked in a turn around the island. The ever infamous Golden Gate Bridge had been uprooted by some massive force and repositioned to connect the mainland with the island.

"Oh my stars and garters" Beast said, watching chaos ensue below. My ears could pick up the shouts of the soldiers over muffled gunshots, and the raining sound of a thousand needles hitting the ground.

"Goin' to stealth mode." Ororo reached up above her to flip a switch on the overhead console. With a bump, only a few seconds later, the invisible jet landed easily on top of one of the buildings on the compound. I looked to Kailynn as the door slid open, she still looked a little groggy, having just recently awoken. Bobby, Kitty, and Piotr had returned empty handed from their quest to find Rogue just as she regained consciousness, she had looked to each of us, with solemn eyes and insisted that wherever we were going, whatever we were doing, she be a part of it. The rest of the team and I had looked to Storm, who, with Scott and the Professor gone, had unwillingly taken a leadership role amongst the team.

"Suit up," She had said to Kailynn, "We need all the help we can get." But even as we all made our way to the Blackbird, we had questioned her loyalty. She didn't even know us, yet she wanted to fight beside us? What was this?

We charged off the jet, Storm taking flight and throwing lightning bolt after lightning bolt to separate the advancing mutants from the soldiers. The team was only made up of myself, Kailynn, Wolverine, Beast, Kitty, Piotr and Bobby. Jubilee had opted to stay behind, afraid that she would only get in the way. Beast took a running leap and dove from the building, followed by Kitty, holding Bobby, carrying him through the ground as they landed, popping back up only seconds later. I choked back a laugh, landing heavily and completely armored, as I heard Bobby say to Kitty:

"Don't ever do that again." Earth and dirt kicked up as Colossus landed much the same way I did, and Wolverine's claws threw sparks as he used them to slow his decent in a valley between the buildings.

"You men, cover the doors, everybody get together, and hold this line!" Wolverine shouted orders to the soldiers. We seven mutants stood in a line, the only thing separating the army of crazed mutants in front of us from the soldiers behind us.

"Finish them!" A man from the bridge yelled, and the mutants charged. Wolverine sliced the pole he was standing next to, causing the tower of lights to fall painfully on many of the charging mutants. After that, I saw nothing but bloodshed. I extended my own version of the claws, jumping and dodging as wave after wave of bloodthirsty mutant advanced on me. I took the first handful out easily, a simple short sword fighting style benefitting me for now, as I slashed, sliced, and stabbed at any enemy mutant in front of me. A break in the action allowed me to chance a look at Kailynn, who was fighting viciously beside the Beast, a set of sharp obsidian claws extended from her fingertips. She moved with the agility of a cat, and fought with the ferocity of a lion, taking out enemies with her claws, her teeth, any part of her body that would cause damage. I smirked, turning my head back to the front, just in time to have a rock nearly take my head off. The force of the blow knocked me to my knees, but I felt no pain as I stood slowly, seeing that it wasn't a rock, but a rather large male mutant with boulders for fists standing in front of me.

A low growl escaped my throat, the mutant in front of me letting out a chuckle.

"Well, come on, then," He said through a thick Australian accent, I pounced forward, claws first, intending to sink them into his chest. My claws simply glanced off, his rock hands tossing me to the side like a rag doll. I landed in a heap several feet from the mutant, who turned on his heel and ran for the compound.

"Oh no, you don't," I said, rising to my feet and charging him, a roar of rage screaming from my throat as I dove forward, my hands landing on his shoulders, and throwing him to the ground heavily. I stomped my foot down hard on one of his rock arms, causing him to scream in pain as it crumbled beneath my foot. My next step was on his head, which disintegrated to dust as I ground my heel into his face. Instinct told me to move, and I dove to the side as a very large man lumbered by me, running through several soldiers before jumping atop a truck and diving through the wall of the compound behind us.

"He's going for the boy!" Beast cried, looking back to the rest of the X Men. Kitty turned on her heel and ran for the building.

"Not if I get there first!" She said, disappearing through one of the walls.

"Kitty!" Barked Wolverine. I turned, and looked toward the three remaining mutants on the bridge, dissolving into my liquid form and making my way past the few mutants that were still charging. What kind of cowards wouldn't even fight in the battle they were causing?

I slithered up onto the bridge, coming to a stop at one of the mutant's feet, a young boy, no older than my 19 years of age, with blond hair, sporting a t-shirt covered by a cotton jacket. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I could no longer move, I couldn't even build myself back up into a form that would allow me to attack him. I felt myself begin to flatten out into a thin disc and raise off the bridge. The older mutant, wearing a helmet and a cape, chuckled openly.

"What are you made of, my friend?" He asked, his eyes turning to the younger mutant. "Light him up," He ordered. A billowing pillar of flames shot from his hand and it felt like my flesh was searing as the flames engulfed me completely. I could feel the heat coming off me, and my form becoming more fluid as I was burned alive. Without warning, I was launched by an unseen force from the smoldering heat.

"Look out!" I tried to scream as I rocketed directly toward the other X Men. They were barely able to dodge as I flew over their heads and into the sky, curving around and coming in for another pass. My 360 degree vision allowed me to see the two mutants perfectly, even as I spun like a frisbee through the air, with one hand, the one I assumed was Magneto, was whipping me around, trying to decapitate the rest of the team, and with the other, he was launching cars off the bridge, which were promptly being lit aflame by the human flamethrower.

"Take cover!" I heard Wolverine cry as several of the cars exploded around him as they hit the ground. Soldiers and mutants alike all dissappeared, finding some sort of cover, and Magneto thrust his hand forward launching me painfully into a nearby building which crumbled around my solidifying disc form and left my lying in a pile of rubble. Before long, I knew nothing but darkness.

* * *

I awoke what could have been several hours, or several seconds later, trapped underneath the remains of a building, absentmindedly, I tried to move the rubble from around me, but quickly discovered that I couldn't move my arms. Wait...I had no arms. I felt stiff, and when I tried to move I couldn't. Trapped in what would have been my liquid form before the intense heat, I was completely solidified. I pushed against myself, in an attempt to break the outer shell and regain my original form, but it was excruciatingly painful, and my entire 'body' seared with white hot agony. I cried out, silently, for help, hoping that someone would find me under here and bring me back.

Outside the rubble, I heard nothing but the gentle _throp throp throp _of helicopter blades pounding through the air. I panicked when I didn't here the whines of the Blackbird, but it quickly abated when I heard Kitty asking where I was. Her voice sounded genuinely concerned, despite my stupid move of trying to approach Magneto in a completely liquid metal form, though he probably could have done something similar to me in any form I was in.

"Relax, kid, he's gotta be around here somewhere." Wolverine said, his boots clipping loudly on the pavement beyond my prison. I heard a few thunderbolts crackle through the air as Storm blasted away some rubble. I wasn't sure what had happened, but I could hear the sadness in Wolverine's tone, even as he scolded Kitty for getting uppety. Suddenly, I could see light, and I heard the sound of concrete against concrete as Wolverine pulled aside a piece of the compound wall, revealing me to the moonlight.

"Here he is. C'mon, bub, turn yourself back to whatever it is you call yourself and lets go, this place is trashed." He said, I couldn't respond, I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything, except look at his confused expression. He moved another piece of the wall aside, a few pieces it crumbling off and bouncing off of me. His expression grew even more confused as he extended a single claw and tapped on my form. A loud clanging noise echoed in the concrete dome and another look of realization crossed his face. Gently, he reached down and picked me up, lifting me with ease, even though I was a 7 foot in diameter, flat, razor sharp disc.

"He's hardened...or something." Piotr said, knocking on me with a steel knuckle.

"Lets get him back, maybe Hank can do something for him." Storm suggested.

**AN: Alright, Hermes is hurt, his recovery will be pretty painful, considering his condition.**

**Kai: Thanks for the sound effects ;-)  
**


	9. Chapter 9: Agony

Chapter 9: Agony

Had I been able to scream out loud I would have, but my own screams echoed through my mind as flames licked my body...if you wanted to call it that. I tried hard to concentrate on something else and for a moment, Kailynn's worried face flashed through my mind, the concern in her green eyes as she scanned me over on the Blackbird brought a moment of pleasure in all the pain.

Upon our return to the mansion, Hank had stuck me with several electrodes, and I felt every fiber of my being tingle as raw electricity was pumped through me. Beast claimed that it was a test to see if I had been solidified all the way through. I spent hours lying on that table as the team shouted out ideas, some of them ridiculous, to bring me back to a liquid form. Kitty had suggested putting me in a microwave, thinking that the radiation would cause the adamantium to revert back to liquid, Piotr had suggested plugging me into a wall socket and pumping electricity into me until I turned white hot, while Storm's idea seemed the most ridiculous, it was the one everyone had settled on.

The kiln had looked ominous as Kailynn had held it open for Beast as he slid me into it. They were going to turn it all the way up, and leave me there for at least three hours, followed by a trip to the sauna for another four to allow me to cool slowly, to avoid this incident again. Hank couldn't be sure it was going to work, but hoped it would.

After the first two hours of agonizing heat, I felt movement return to my form, though it was stiff and difficult, I did several laps around the confining space in the kiln, but by the third hour I could move entirely, without pain, aside from the searing heat that made me feel as though I was being baked alive. Hm...

The sauna was much more comfortable than the kiln, though the humidity made the burning feeling slightly more intense, but it faded with each minute. Once I was convinced that I wasn't going to cause the floor to burn with each step, I built myself back up to my original form, the process was slow, and searingly stiff, but complete within a few minutes. I cocked my head to the side, imagining that my neck would crack, but it didn't, though the idea made me feel a little better. With three hours left in the sauna, I sat and took the time to think.

My mistakes at the battle ran through my head, and I began to wonder how the team would handle me after I was well again. Moisture dripped from my ears and onto my thin shoulders as I sat on the wooden benches. I couldn't blame it on Magneto, I had been warned of his power, and Wolverine had described the feeling to me a dozen times in danger room sessions, and I had completely ignored his advice, thinking I could sneak up on the magnetic man. I heaved a sigh as my thoughts moved back to Kailynn, contemplating the half smile on her face as she had helped get me into the kiln, the concern in her voice as she had reassured me that this wasn't going to hurt a bit. I snorted, yeah right.

"Hey there, thinker, times up." Storm said, seeing me lost in thought, a smile spreading across her face. "Its good to see you back to your old self." She said, placing her arm around my shoulders as we exited the sauna, the cool air of the mansion rushing through my fur. It was soothing and refreshing, after feeling like I had been burnt alive for the last seven hours. Storms eyes looked tired and she moved slowly, she acted like she hadn't slept in days.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking to her. I knew that the battle at Alcatraz had taken a lot out of her, and was hoping that she, and the rest of the team had taken the time it took me to recover to get some sleep. But apparently, my hopes were to no avail.

"I'm fine, now that I know that you are okay," She responded, forcing a smile. Something was definitely up, I noticed when she lead me past the dormitories and into an office, where Wolverine sat with his feet up on a desk. Kailynn was there too, and if I had been able to blush, I would have. Wolverine shot me a look of disdain as Storm closed the door behind us.

"What were you thinking, kid?" He asked me angrily, his voice gruff and commanding as he stood from his spot behind the desk. "What in the Sam Hell did you think? You could take on Magneto by yourself? HE CAN MOVE METAL WITH HIS MIND! YOU ARE MADE OF NOTHING BUT METAL!" He screamed, positioning his face inches from mine, shooting droplets of spittle into my face. I flinched backward, but my eyes never left his.

"You're one to talk, you've made that mistake how many times now?" I shot back, my brow furrowing in anger.

"Logan, stop." Storm said softly, "We brought him here to explain his mistakes, not to scream at him."

"No!" Wolverine turned, raising his voice to Storm. "He could have cost us our LIVES!" The emphasis on the last word caused me to shake with adrenaline.

"But he didn't," Kailynn spoke up in my defense, her voice musical, maybe just to my ears. Wolverine huffed and turned back to look at me, his face red with anger.

"Mistakes like that kill people," He said, this time not bending down to spit in my face, my hands began to hurt as I realized I was gripping the arms of the chair. "Mistakes like that can cost us our goals."

"Oh, is that how Scott, Jean and the Professor died?" I asked sarcastically, "Because of your mistakes?" Wolverine's hand shot out and closed around my throat, squeezing hard, although I couldn't feel any pain there, I could feel the pressure.

"You take that back," He said, his lower lip trembling, with anger or sadness I couldn't tell, but he was definitely hurt by what I said.

His request, however, fell on deaf ears, "Get your hands off of me, now." I said through clenched teeth, looking at him threateningly. My peripheral vision caught Storm and Kailynn rushing to Wolverine's side, attempting to pull his hand from my throat to no avail.

"Or what?" He sneered, the sound of metal against metal as his claws slid slowly from his knuckles.

"Logan, stop." Kailynn said, both of us ignored her, my own hand shifting unseen by Logan, into a club, much the same way the rock man's hands had been.

"Or I'll do this." I said, swinging my club for his legs, knocking them out from under him, I heard a crack as two indestructable metals met and, he fell to the ground in a heap, growling in pain. I stood, stomping heavily on his ribs before running out of the room. Anger swelled up inside me, but not for Wolverine, for Magneto. Wolverine was right, I had made a mistake, and it could have cost the team their lives, and mine, but I wasn't about to admit that to him. Dissolving again, slowly, into my liquid form, I slipped underneath the lift doors and slid down the walls to the first floor, underneath the doors again, finally solidifying just in front of them. I broke into a run, tears streaming down my face. _I'm coming for you, Magneto, you're mine._

_

* * *

_

I left the mansion on foot, running north toward the nearest city. I would start there, looking for the old man in any way possible. I swelled with anger as I ran along the road, not bothering to hide my appearance as cars flew by me. I had to prove myself to them, I would bring Magneto back to the mansion, dead or alive.

Realization suddenly came across me, that if I stayed on the road, someone might come by and try to stop me. I picked up speed, running directly for the next tree I saw, kicking up onto the side of it, my momentum carrying me easily seven or eight steps straight up to the first branch. I landed on it easily, leaping from it to catch the next branch, and so on and so forth. I traveled this way for several miles, finally coming to a stop in a tree at the edge of a busy highway. My chest heaved with exhaustion as I struggled to catch my breath, my eyes scanning across the highway. Just across the four-lane was a park, located on the edge of Mountainview, a major city only a few miles from the mansion. I dropped from the tree, landing on the edge of the road and heaving a deep breath. I darted across the highway, leaping atop a passing car, and kicking off of it, rolling to a stop in the grass median.

I was on my feet again, contemplating the flow of traffic on the other side of the expressway in just a few seconds, dropping into a stance similar to the way a track runner would, I watched intently. _Okay, Hermes, its now or never. _I thought to myself, charging across the highway, drivers laid on their horns and screamed out their windows at me as I barely made it by them. Too late, I heard the screeching of brakes and the blare of a car horn as it caught me hard in the leg at just the right angle to launch me off the overpass. Pain shot through my leg, in my hurry, and anger, I had forgotten to bring up my armor, and the car hit what felt like soft flesh. I flipped through the air, catching glimpses of the grass reaching up to claim me, falling at least 100 feet to the ground, slamming into it with such force that the impact hammered pain through my body. I tried to pick myself up, but the agony was too much and I fell unconscious into the grass.

**AN Another chapter up, what the hell is Hermes thinking? Please R&R, I would love to hear from a few more people! **

**MysteryHunter: I tried, I was writing it while I watched the battle sequence. It was tough... But thank you, keep reading and reviewing!  
**


	10. Chapter 10: The Brotherhood

Chapter 10: The Brotherhood

I awoke with a start, rising slowly to my feet. My head throbbed and my legs felt like rubber, I scanned my surroundings, trying to figure out where I was, but a thick bank of fog obscured my vision aside from a few trees. The grass felt wet beneath my feet, and the light in the sky indicated that it was probably early morning, just before complete sunrise.

"Hermes" I heard, in a soft male voice from what sounded like all directions. I whirled around, looking for the source of the voice but couldn't find anything. Shaking my throbbing head, I curled my tail back around my waist, and began to make my way slowly forward, away from the highway, or so I thought.

"Hermes, what are you doing?" The voice said again, another soft whisper that seemed to echo around me.

"Who's there?" I said, stopping in my tracks, which proved to be difficult considering my disorientation. I looked around again, searching for an answer from whoever it was. A figure caught my eye in the bank of fog ahead of me, walking slowly in my direction. Backing away a few steps, I prepared for a fight, dropping into a low stance that would allow me to fight or flee if I became outnumbered or worse. As the figure drew closer, I aborted my instinct to fight and my mouth dropped in awe, as he emerged from the fog. The man in front of me towered over me by at least a foot, was dressed in a casual business suit, grey, his light blue eyes and bald head were unmistakable.

"P-professor?" I said, Xavier smiled.

"Yes, Hermes, its me. What are you doing?" He asked, a look of concern crossing his otherwise stony features.

"I'm going after Magneto." I responded, my eyes flashing with rage.

"You won't find what you are looking for, son."

"I have to, he humiliated me, threw me around like a Frisbee, I have to get him, and I have to bring him back to the mansion." I said, not even caring that there was a ghost standing in front of me. He moved forward as though to try to comfort me, and I stepped back, keeping the distance between us.

"Eric has lost his powers, he is no longer a threat and he's living the worst life possible for him to imagine." Xavier chided.

"What do you know? You're dead!" I shouted angrily, turning on my heel and running in the opposite direction. The fog closed around me, making any type of navigation near impossible, and I had only made it a few feet when I sprinted full force into a thick oak that sent me splaying onto my back, unconscious again.

* * *

I stood in front of a warehouse that looked abandoned, gang symbols and other spray painted images littered the sliding aluminum doors, it was one symbol that caught my eye, though that led me here. The initials "BH" with the H written into the B, was etched into the concrete, almost as though it had been there forever.

Pulling the fedora on my head lower over my eyes and the collar of the long trench coat I was wearing further up around my neck, I hesitated for a moment, contemplating the dream that I had earlier that day, the fog, the professor, it had all felt so real. But the professor was dead, it couldn't have been real.

Interrogating had been the easiest part, mutants with marks on them, indicating that they had been a part of the brotherhood, were much easier to find than I thought they would be, and they all acted so tough, until the only other way out was death. The final mutant had put up a good fight, a young man who called himself Quicksilver for his lightning fast speed. But he had figured out very quickly that it was hard to run when his feet were trapped in a solid puddle of Adamantium, and easy to talk when a razor sharp spike was rising from the middle of it, threatening to impale him.

Anger welled up inside me, again. I felt like I had finally been accepted into something, finally been viewed as equal, even if it was only by a select few people, and Magneto had ripped that from me, he was definitely going to pay. Clearing my throat, I pushed the thought away and chuckled outwardly at my appearance, picturing myself as my favorite comic book hero from my childhood, Detective Dick Tracy. Although he had always worn a yellow trench and yellow fedora with a red feather in it, I hadn't had time, or the money to be that picky, and had simply stolen the first fedora and trench coat I came upon. Both dark black with no special adornments or weaving, just...black.

I stepped up to the doors and debated for a second on knocking, but decided against it. If Magneto was in there, I would have to surprise him in order to capture him. I didn't have a plan, I just hoped that I could get to him before he found me, and put a blade through his chest.

To one watching, it might look as though I simply melted into a puddle of liquid goo, my arms and hands dripped into the puddle that was once my feet, and I slowly sank into it. Slithering forward, and keeping an eye out behind me to make sure I wasn't followed, I slipped between the cracks in the door with little effort and found myself in a large room, completely lined with metal plating, a solid metal desk with a young man sitting behind it, the same firestarter that had been at the bridge incident, sat at the other end of the room, several sets of benches that looked like church pews had been set up in front of the desk, enough room for hundreds of people to sit. Just in front of the desk stood a large metal podium, the word '_homo sapien_' etched into the front of it enclosed by a circle with a line through it.

I decided quickly it would be best to remain unseen until I at least found Magneto, and slithered up the wall next to the door, staying in the shadows and out of the light, able to grab onto a high rafter just as I felt myself sliding slowly back down the wall. I lay there for a minute, watching as Pyro snoozed behind the desk, thundering footsteps coming from a room off to his right causing him to stir ever so slightly.

"Did you find him?" John asked as a very large man wearing a thick stone helmet emerged from the shadows.

"No, haven't been able to, he just dissappeared from the face of the planet." The man growled, an Australian accent dominating his speech.

"Damnit!" Pyro said, slamming his fist down on the desk, his hand erupting in a ball of flame. His movements were precise, and quick, and in seconds, he was holding the fireball underneath the larger man's chin. "HE HASN'T DISAPPEARED, JUGGERNAUT, YOU FOOL, THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO THINK." He screamed, turning and then lowering his hand, the flames extinguishing. "Now get out there, and find him. Or I'll fricassee you like tomorrow night's dinner." He finished, moving back to the desk, speaking sweetly as though he were telling a child that he could have his desert once he finished his brussel sprouts. Juggernaut growled angrily.

"Why the hell are you looking for him? He lost his powers, he can't do anything anymore." Juggernaut retorted. Pyro looked at him angrily, clenching his teeth.

"Don't question me, you worthless piece of shit, I said go find him." Pyro responded, ending the conversation there, the larger man turning and making his way out the back of the warehouse. I couldn't help but wonder who they were talking about, my thoughts flashing back to the dream I had earlier, Xavier warning me that Magneto had lost his power. A female voice wrenched me from my thoughts.

"Do you think he'll find him?" A woman asked, emerging from the shadows on the other side of the desk, her form much like mine, only much more voluptuous. Dark red hair over blue skin that was covered in barbs of some kind, her voice was strange, sounding almost like many voices speaking all at the same time. She moved slowly, as though she were in pain or discomfort, every simple wrong move bringing a grimace of pain to her face and causing her to...flash...I guess was the only word for it, into another human form and back again. Pyro himself had to look away from this even as his own face was duplicated on hers.

"I don't know, Mystique, I don't know." Pyro said looking up to her, a myschevious grin crossing his face.

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, all... I really wish I could get a few more readers, I even changed the summary! *sighs* if anyone can help, please do.**

**MysteryHunter: Wait until you see what happens next.  
**


	11. Chapter 11: The Cure

Chapter 11: The Cure

For days, I sat atop that rafter, watching mutants appearing and disappearing, each reporting the same thing. Many of the mutants who had taken the cure in its early stages were finding that it was wearing off, their mutations coming back full force and violently within a few weeks, to a couple of months depending on their class, Mystique was obviously one of them, as I watched her over the few days slowly regaining control over her ability with guidance from Pyro.

Although the kid was ruthless with other mutants, frying those that disappointed him without a second thought, he showed a side that I would never have thought could come from him after I watched him with Juggernaut, a certain compassion for the ill-stricken shapeshifter, pushing her only as far as he thought she could go. I could recognize some of the teachings of the professor in his sessions with her, repeating basic rules of control in my head as he went over them with her again.

Just as I started to feel week from lack of food and water, and was dozing into a much needed nap, a crash wrenched me back to consciousness, nearly causing me to slide off the rafter. Juggernaut walked in, a bloody mess dripping from beneath his helmet, and an unconscious figure thrown over his shoulder. He threw the unconscious form onto one of the pews, roughly, and its head lolled toward me, eyes closed and a nasty gash across his forehead. It was Magneto.

Pyro stood, watching Juggernaut as he moved away from the body and toward the desk, removing his helmet, revealing a piece of cloth wrapped crudely around his bloody head. Pyro seemed speechless as he looked from Juggernaut to Magneto and back again.

"What happened?" Pyro asked, moving over to Magneto's side, checking his pulse and his breathing, and, once he was convinced he was alive, standing and looking at Juggernaut.

"The old bastard tried to kill me! Threw a one ton steel beam at me before I even had my helmet on! So...I threw it back." He chuckled, "He couldn't control his powers well enough to stop it, I guess." The giant said, removing the rag from his head and mopping some blood up from over his eye and throwing it across the room and into the shadows. Pyro smirked and walked up to Juggernaut, who backed away a couple of steps, directly into a corner.

"Juggernaut, my friend. I thought I told you not to hurt him?" He said, a fireball scorching into existance in his hand.

"Aww, c'mon, I didn't hurt 'im." He pleaded nervously, his eyes locked on the fireball. Pyro was smart though, staying back just far enough to have time to react if Juggernaut tried to rush him.

"Did it hurt you when he threw that beam at you?" Pyro asked, a sweet smile on his face. The towering man nodded slowly.

"Like hell," He said, pointing to the huge gash across his forehead.

"Then don't you think it hurt him when you THREW IT BACK?" He screamed, the sweet smile leaving his face, a look of anger replacing it. The fireball in his hand grew larger and he advanced a step on Juggernaut, who was now pressing himself so hard against the wall, I could see a dent forming in the metal. Suddenly the fireball snuffed out, a trail of smoke snaking to the ceiling, and Pyro moved back over to Magneto, his eyes in the shadows. "He found him, Mystique." The woman moved from the shadows, much easier than she had a few days ago, remaining in her blue appearance the whole time, she stood over the old man, who slowly began to stir. Even as he did, I could feel a magnetic vibration rush through the room, sending shivers down my spine.

"Eric," She said, bringing herself down to his level as he sat up slowly. He reeled back in surprise.

"Mystique, my dear," He said, his powerful, commanding tone giving way to a nervous twitter. She smiled and reached out to caress his face, just as her hand touched him, she jerked it in a sharp smack across his cheek.

"How dare you leave me to die," She snapped angrily, standing and turning her back on him. She spoke to the desk. "But I suppose you've paid your dues." She sighed. Magneto didn't respond, only rubbed his jaw, grimacing, I supposed he probably had a major headache.

"Welcome back to the Brotherhood, Magneto." Pyro said with a smile, Magneto stood slowly, making his way back to his desk, but Pyro beat him there. "There's just been, a few minor little changes," He said, his eyes flashing with fire. "I'm in charge now."

* * *

My legs were stiff from being in liquid form for so long, as I sprinted back to the mansion, aborting my mission. There was no way I was going to try it alone, especially with Pyro and the Juggernaut protecting him. I did know one thing, I had to warn the rest of the X-Men, regardless of what had happened, I had to let them know that the brotherhood was rising again, with Pyro in charge.

Kailynn was sitting on the front porch of the mansion as I approached, my chest heaving from running for so long, I had been gone at least a week, but never once thought if anyone here was worrying about me. I skidded to a halt in front of her, a guilty look crossing my face.

"Hermes!" She said, jumping to her feet and hugging me tightly, pulling away to look at me, a wide grin crossing her face, and then pulling me back into the embrace. I welcomed it, hugging back, when all of a sudden she pushed me back and slapped me hard across the face. "Don't you ever make me worry like that again!" She yelled, then grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the mansion as though nothing had ever happened. "C'mon, some people want to see you."

She only managed to pull me a few steps before I pulled away and stopped her, looking solemnly to her.

"Have to see Storm, she's the only one I want to see, then I'm leaving again." I said, and she smiled.

"Trust me, you won't want to leave after this." She said taking my hand again, and pulling me into the mansion. We darted through halls, past students and up a set of stairs, crashing loudly without knocking through a set of double doors. Storm sat behind a desk, Wolverine in a chair in front of it, both looking as though they had just finished a heated conversation, but a twinkle in their eyes nonetheless.

"Hermes, by the Goddess!" Storm said, rushing over to me and dropping to her knees to hug me. I hugged back, a little confused, I could have sworn that they all hated me. None of them stopped him when Wolverine tried-

"Listen, kid, this ain't easy for me to say, but, I'm sorry," He spat, wrenching me from my thoughts, and standing over Storm and I, a solemn look on his face. Kailynn wore a broad grin, one so large she could barely keep her lips closed.

"I'm sorry too, but wait a second here, guys, I don't have good news." I said, pushing Storm away slightly.

* * *

"And so, Magneto's back and Pyro won't relinquish control." I finished recounting the last week of information to them.

"Well, we already knew 'bout the cure," Wolverine said, "The news is full of reports of mutants just exploding destructively and uncontrollably." He said, "And Rogue..." he finished, trailing off.

"What about her" I asked, remembering her smile, wishing I had been able to say 'goodbye' before I left.

"She got the cure, right before Alcatraz," the weather witch cut in, "And her power started to come back while she was playing some kind of clapping game with Jubilee the other day. She's in the infirmary, hasn't been conscious for at least two days."

"Oh my, Jubilee." I breathed, I hadn't even said goodbye to her. My eyes fell to the floor, and I shook my head.

"Jubilee will be fine," A familiar voice sounded behind me, like one out of a dream. I noticed the twinkle in Storm's eyes and the smile growing on her face. She mouthed the word 'surprise' as I whirled around. In the doorway stood, or sat rather, the Professor, looking much younger and completely healthy. My mouth fell agape, and I froze.

"P-professor?" I said, feeling a sense of Deja Vu.


	12. Chapter 12: Lynx

Chapter 12: Lynx

The news from Xavier left me with a lot of pent up excitement, I could hear his words ringing over and over in my head as he explained how he had come to be the way he was.

"Do you remember the case study that we did about the man with no brain processes right before I-" He hadn't been able to finish the sentence, his teeth clenched, obviously remembering the experience and the pain.

"The one about whether it was ethical to transfer someone else's consciousness to his body?" I had inquired, urging him to continue.

"Yes, well, I did that." He had said. I could remember the guilt in his voice as he described not being able to look in the mirror because of the way he looked. The painful and extensive plastic sugery he had gone through to look the way he did now.

Kailynn and I now stood inside the danger room, when she had seen how restless I was, sitting in the dining room, she had suggested a quick sparring match. I could tell that she had some pent up energy too, and it would probably be good practice anyway.

"Danger Room, Arena setting, please," I said, watching as the scenery around me changed from the usual black tiles to an arena much the same as the Colosseum in Ancient Rome.

"Ready?" She asked, obsidian claws extending from her fingertips, her lip curling into a silent snarl.

"Go for it." I said dropping into a low stance myself, but not yet changing my form. I wanted to see how fast I could make them, and this would be the perfect chance. Even as I answered she lunged at me, a growl sounding extremely similar to a mountain lion's escaping her throat. I slid to the side, letting her momentum carry her past me while I grabbed her arm and helped her along. I back flipped a couple of times to put distance between us, just in time to see her twist in mid air, dig her claws into the sand and skid to a stop just before slamming into the wall. I smirked, this would be fun.

Kailynn kicked off, charging at me, running on both her hands and feet. She was on top of me in seconds, sweeping my legs out from under me, her speed caught me off guard and I heard myself cry out as I went to the ground, my hand reaching out to catch myself. Before I hit the ground, however, I felt a foot land in the center of my chest, knocking the wind out of me and sending me flying into the wall behind me, I bounced off it painfully, landing face first in the sand, kicking up dust around me. I tried to stand, coughing, but felt Kailynn dig her claws finger deep into the fleshy part of my back. Throwing my head back, I howled in pain, growling and pushing myself into the air with my arms, twisting around in the air and contorting my arm enough to grab her by the ankle. With a grunt and a mighty heave, I used my own momentum to rip her off my back, her claws tearing through the soft flesh as I threw her across the arena.

I landed easily on my feet, white hot pain shooting through ten claw marks extending from my shoulder blades to my waist. Ignoring it, I launched myself at her, hardening my flesh in mid air, and changing my hand into a thick adamantium club. I swung, catching her hard in the chin, feeling her jaw break, and causing her to fly up and back with a huge amount of momentum. A couple of running steps forward and a leap carried me through the air over top of her, lacing my fingers together as I reared back, I transformed them into a large metal hammer and swung downward, halting her forward momentum and slamming her into the dirt.

Landing, I skidded to a stop, my chest heaving and my flesh reverting back to normal. I strolled over to her, knowing that she had a healing factor similar to Wolverine's, and knowing that she would be back up in a few seconds but thinking that she might concede after that little demonstration. Oh how wrong I was.

In a whirl of dust and claws, she was lunging at me from the ground, her claws sank into my chest as her forward momentum carried me to the ground. She slid her claws from my chest and pinned my arms to the ground as I landed on my back, laying with all her weight on top of me. I tried to kick up, but found that she had my feet pinned to the ground with hers, I wasn't going anywhere. She reared back, baring her teeth and hissing, revealing two pair of razor sharp canines. She came down quickly, looking as though she was going to sink them into my neck, and caught me completely off guard when I felt her lips press against mine, kissing me deeply, the sound of her claws sinking back into her fingertips as she raised them to my face, running her fingers through the fur that lined the side of my face and went up to the top of my head.

With my arms free, I wrapped them around her, pulling her as close as I could and running my fingers through her long brown hair. I fell into it, and we kissed for hours on that dusty arena floor.

We sat against the wall of the danger room, she sat next to me, leaning into me, we were both breathing heavily after the hours of making out on the floor in the danger room, which had now reverted back to its original scenery. Her nails trailed softly through the tufts of fur on my chest, sending shivers up and down my spine.

"How did I do?" She asked me, batting her eyelashes at me. For a moment, I felt myself lost in those green eyes. Shaking my head, I cleared my throat and answered her.

"You are a wonderful kisser," I replied with a smile.

"No, silly, I mean in the fight," She cuffed me hard on the chest.

"Oh!" I said, I would have been blushing if I could have, "You did awesome, you fought like a mountain lion, or a lynx or something." I said, her eyes grew wide, and a broad grin crossed her face.

"That's it!" She said, jumping toward me and planting another deep kiss on my lips. I broke it, and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Lynx, that's my name!"

"Yeah, that's a good name for you." We shared laugh and then sat in silence for a few minutes, staring off into space.

"When did the Professor return?" I asked her, rubbing her shoulder gently with the palm of my hand.

"That feels nice," She said, smiling at me, "He just rolled in yesterday...no pun intended." She finished with a giggle.

"I had a dream," I said thoughtfully, "Or at least I think it was a dream, that he tried to stop me from going after Magneto..."

"Which was the stupidest thing you could ever do, you could never stop him by yourself." She chided me softly.

"I know, but in the dream, he told me that Magneto had been cured." I defended, "So I thought he'd be easier to get to. But when Juggernaut came back..." my voice trailed off as I looked to the floor. She hooked a soft finger under my chin and redirected my gaze to her.

"Don't worry," She smiled at me, "Whatever Pyro has planned, we'll stop him." She said "As a team."

"Wait a second here, Kailynn, I don't know anything about you," I said, kind of pulling away from her, she followed my movement, closing the couple centimeters gap between us.

"That makes two of us," she said sadly,

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember fighting Jean down by Alkalai Lake, that's it."

"YOU fought JEAN?" I asked in surprise and then laughed, "And you thought _I _was crazy for going after Magneto."

"Well, I didn't go after her, the first thing I remember is, literally, standing in front of her, before that, there's nothing, I can't recall anything." She said defensively. "We were arguing when I remember, and then, I lost control and lunged at her, and she just...threw me aside like a rag doll without ever laying a finger on me."

"What?" I asked, "That doesn't make any sense, you don't remember getting there? You don't remember anything?" She shook her head in response.

"Lets go find the Professor, maybe he can read your mind." I said, taking her by the hand and rising, we left the Danger Room, hand in hand, only to run into the professor just outside it.

"I had a feeling that you two needed me," He said, eying the both of us knowingly, she blushed and looked sheepishly at the floor, clutching my hand.

"Can you read her mind?" I asked, looking at the wheelchair ridden psychic. He looked back at me and then to her.

"Is that what you want, my dear?" He asked with a frown, Kailynn nodded, obviously a little unsure. "Kneel down here." She followed directions kneeling so that she was eye level with the professor. "Try to relax," He said, reaching out and placing his hands mere inches from her temples on either side of her head. This only went on for a few seconds before he pulled away and looked at her puzzled.

"There's...there's nothing there, its almost like... like you didn't exist until the day you fought Jean."

**AN: MysteryHunter: I agree completely, never mess with a mutant woman... for just that reason...she'll love you, then beat the snot out of you in the same motion! lol**


	13. Chapter 13: Attack

Chapter 13: Attack

Lynx shook her head at Xavier's deduction. "That's impossible, I'm nineteen years old, and I didn't exist up until a few months ago?" tears started to form in her eyes, as though she was just learning that her whole life was a lie.

"I have my suspicions, but let me ask you a question." Xavier responded calmly. "Do you know who Cyclops is?" Kailynn smiled and nodded.

"Of course, his real name is Scott Summers, and he is soooo cute." She said, her face turning a little red as she shot a glance at me.

"But, you could have never met Scott if you existed only a few months ago," my words were spoken softly.

"Exactly, will you come with me?" Xavier said, Kailynn looked at me, her hand slipping from mine as she followed the professor to the lab. Hank had recently taken a position on the UN as a representative for the United States, but the computer in there could perform most of the basics, blood tests, things like that. I watched as the two disappeared into the lab and sighed, turning to head back up the lift and to the dormitories.

Once I reached my bedroom, ignoring the cries of the other students, I flopped onto the bed, crossing my arms beneath the back of my head, staring at the ceiling with a deep sigh. What was going on here? Sitting up, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. What could all of this mean? Kailynn not existing until the day she fought jean. Xavier returning, the cure failing? Somehow, I had a feeling that it was all interconnected, but who could ever know.

A sharp knock on my door wrenched me from my thoughts, and glanced out the window before moving to the door. The sun was setting on the horizon, splashes of color making their way into my window. I pulled open the door to find Bobby Drake standing there.

"Hey, Merc. Where have you been?" He asked, a smile crossing his lips. "I stopped by a few days ago, but everybody said that they hadn't seen you in a while."

"Yeah, I was...preoccupied." I said, inviting him in and taking a seat on my bed, while he took the chair in front of my desk. He raised an eyebrow at my comment.

"Preoccupied, rumor has it that you went after Magneto." Bobby said, picking a pencil out of the cup on my desk and twirling it in his fingers nonchalantly. I sighed, debating on whether or not to tell the truth.

"I did," I said, "Hunted him down, but didn't find him. I found where he and the rest of the brotherhood was meeting."

"I hear that Pyro has taken it over, and Magneto got his powers back." I shook my head.

"How does word travel around here so fast?" I asked, looking to the human freezer as he froze my pencil and snapped it between his fingers. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but it does." his reply was indifferent, he leaned forward, whispering firmly to me. "What were you thinking!? He could have torn you apart without a second thought if he had his powers."

"I've heard enough of that, I know, I don't know what I was thinking. All I know is that Wolverine gave me hell for going after him on the bridge, and I felt the need to prove myself. But I even failed at that." I said, lifting a book from my bag, tucked beneath my bed.

"You proved yourself alright," He chuckled "You proved yourself reckless and stupid." Laughing, I chucked my book at him, which he promptly froze in mid air, the change in mass causing it to fall out of the air and shatter on the carpet. All at once, the entire mansion shuddered and a loud booming noise came from the far side of it.

"What the hell was that?" I cried, getting to my feet as quickly as Bobby did, we rushed from my room and sprinted down the hall. My small form was struggling to keep up with Iceman and I couldn't figure out why until I looked at the floor and realized that he was freezing the air just above the floor and gliding along it as though he were ice skating. We rounded a corner, skidding to a stop just in front of an inferno of flames. They licked the walls, and blackened the ceiling. "You handle the flames, I'm gonna make sure that everyone is okay." I said, hardening my flesh and dashing forward into the flames.

They were hot, but not as hot as if they were coming directly from Pyro. This reeked of the Brotherhood, and I had a feeling that a little fire wasn't all we were going to be dealing with. Pushing open doors as I passed them, I checked each room through the thick smoke and hot flames to make sure there were no students in them.

"Help! Help me!" I heard the cry of a little girl that seemed to be coming from a door across the hall. Charging up to it, I kicked it in with my foot, the door shattering to splinters around it. Huddled in the corner was a young girl, one that I'd never seen around here before. I rushed forward, scooping her into my arms.

"You're alright, everything will be fine." I said, turning to carry her out of the room to safety. Stopping abruptly as she lashed out with a hand, knocking me hard against my temple. I stumbled to the side, dropping her in the process. All at once, she grew two feet and turned blue.

"Mystique!" I said with a growl. A smirk played across her lips as she sprang forward, two well delivered kicks to my jaw and a third to the back of my head as she flipped over me. Stumbling forward, I turned just in time for her to plant a foot in the center of my chest, launching me out into the hallway, skidding along the floor. I rose to my feet slowly, smoke billowing around me, but no flames. Bobby was putting out the last of them further down the hallway.

"Iceman, get the rest of the team, we've got company." With a soft _schnict _my claws slid out of the back of my hand and I rushed back into the room, Mystique stood in a corner, arms crossed and waiting for me. Lunging forward, I crashed clumsily through the wall as she flipped over my head, dodging my attack. Turning on my heel, I saw her standing in the other corner, taunting me. I lunged again, this time, catching her heel as she flipped over my head and throwing her into the wall. I followed her to the wall, stopping dead in my tracks only feet from where she lay unconscious on the floor. I was suddenly unable to move.

"Is that...Adamantium?" I heard a voice behind me, commanding, confident, and deep. I couldn't speak, but I knew it was-

"Magneto!" I heard a voice cry from the doorway, another _schnict _told me that it was Wolverine, and I heard him growl, picturing in my minds eye, him lunging forward to knock Magneto out of the way. I heard nothing but a chuckle from Magneto.

"Wolverine, won't you ever learn?" Magneto said, I struggled to turn my head to see what was going on. It took all of my strength, but finally, I was able to get my neck to comply and turn to see that Magneto had Wolverine suspended in mid lunge in the air. Then it hit me, I was able to turn my head. Magneto had faltered, over extended his weakened powers by trying to keep us both at bay.

"Did it hurt?" Wolverine asked, aparrently noticing that I had been able to turn my head and trying to keep him distracted.

"Did what hurt?" Magneto retorted. I could see droplets of sweat forming on his brow, more and more and getting bigger all the time.

"Being normal for so long," He spat, hitting Magneto in a sore spot. All the while, I was moving inch by inch to turn myself around to face him, Magneto glared at him.

"Not as much as its going to hurt when I rip that adamantium from your brittle bones." He threatened through clenched teeth. Wolverine's screams echoed off the walls in the room, and I smirked.

"Not a chance," I said, as he momentarily forgot about me, straining himself to try to pull Wolverine's adamantium skeleton off. I lunged, and in a panic, Magneto faltered back a few steps, catching me again, this time in mid air. The distraction, however was just enough to give Wolverine time to attack, and I heard a sickening crack as he delivered a hard kick to Magneto's head, his helmet flying off of it and clanging against the wall. Magneto fell to the ground, blood pouring from his head. I fell also, catching myself on one knee and my hand.

"Nice job, kid." Wolverine said, smiling at me, that myschevious flame dancing in his eye.

"No time for that now, he was just the pawn, the power pieces are about to attack." I said seriously, dashing from the room and down the hall.

**AN: What is the brotherhood doing? They are barely at full strength and attacking the X-Mansion? Hmmm...and what is to become of Kailynn? Keep reading to find out!**


	14. Chapter 14: Redemption

Chapter 14: Redemption

Sprinting down the hall in my admantium form was taxing, the metal made my footfalls heavy, and made mobility nearly impossible. Wolverine caught up with me quickly, slowing his pace as he came up beside me. I reverted back to my normal form, picking up speed with my outer layer lacking the weight of the metal.

"It still sends shivers up and down my spine when you do that, kid." Wolverine said with a smirk. He stopped dead in his tracks, and, with my adrenaline at max, reacted a split second later, skidding to a stop a half a foot in front of him. Suddenly, he dove at me, and tackled me into a nearby room, narrowly avoiding being seen by whoever owned the three sets of boots that suddenly came into view of the doorway.

"Where is she?!" I heard Pyro's voice. He was here looking for someone?

"I dunno, boss," A voice I didn't recognize piped in. "But all the kids that we've interrogated have never heard of her."

"You didn't kill any of them, did you?" Pyro growled. I could picture his fists clenching and un-clenching, even though I couldn't see it from our hiding spot under the bed. I was tempted to rush them now, take them by surprise, but a glance at Wolverine quashed that as he put a finger to his lips and nodded back out into the hallway, as if to tell me to listen.

"No, boss, I didn't kill anyone." The voice replied. I watched one set of boots, Pyro's probably, turn toward the so far silent pair. They backed away a step, Pyro's advanced.

"She called me an ugly jerk!" I recognized Juggernaut's voice, he sounded frightened. An orange glow lit up the tiles of the floor.

"Which one," Pyro whispered, advancing forward. The larger boots stumbled backward, silently. "WHICH ONE?!" The fire starter roared.

"I dunno what," I heard him gulp loudly "Her name was, she just kept throwing these annoying little explosives at my head, so I put her head through a wall." He finished.

"Jubilee," I whispered. I could feel anger welling up inside me, and it was all I could do not to dart out of my hiding place and try to kill all three of them, Wolverine put a hand on my shoulder, as though reading my mind.

"You idiot." He said, advancing on Juggernaut, "You FOOL! You... WASTE OF A MUTANT!" He screamed. The glow grew brighter, and Juggernaut screamed in terror, I could smell smoldering flesh almost immediately, and when Juggernauts cries for mercy finally stopped, the flames went out. Silence so thick it could have been cut with a knife followed. Then Pyro spoke. "Leave him. Keep searching, but let that be an example to you, if you harm a hair on one of these kids heads, so help me, I'll grill you to a crisp." He said. The other pair of boots took off down the hall silently. A single tear slipped down my cheek, and I tore out from under the bed, just as Pyro slunk down the hall in the opposite direction.

After a couple of seconds, I realized that I was clenching my teeth and holding my breath. I relaxed, my jaw aching for a moment, and my chest heaved as I caught my breath. I felt Wolverine's hand on my shoulder, but I was too enraged to be comforted. Shrugging his hand off of my shoulder, I turned to face him.

"I think I know who they are looking for." I said quietly, staring at his boots.

* * *

It only took the two of us a few minutes to get to the labs downstairs, where we found Xavier and Kailynn, both looking very somber, Kailynn's sleeve was still rolled up to her shoulder. Before I could explain, the professor stopped me.

"I know, Pyro and his men are here." He said quietly. "Juggernaut has killed Jubilee and they are looking for Kailynn."

"Me?" Kailynn said, her voice quavering with panic, "Why are they looking for me?!" She asked.

"For the same reason I wanted to take a blood test." Xavier said, thumbing through the results on his clipboard. He sighed heavily and cleared his throat before continuing. "Kailynn, your DNA is an exact match of Jean Grey's."

"So, what does that mean? I'm her daughter." She asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"No, not even children have exact DNA matches to their parents. You're...well... a clone."

"A clone? How? What?!" Kailynn said, I looked at her slowly, taking in all her features, and though she resembled Jean, she didn't look exactly like her. How could a clone not look like the clonee?

"I'm, not sure..." Xavier said, "And I don't have equipment sophisticated enough to figure that out. It would involve more computer power than I and the whole east coast has combined, and more cells than you have in your body."

"Woah, that's heavy, kid. But what would Pyro do with her once he got her?" Wolverine said, bringing the subject back to the matter at hand.

"Again, I have no clue, and we couldn't know until he has her." Xavier expressed solemnly, lowering the clipboard onto the table. A deafening silence filled the room, the three of us looking at our shoes, all of us trying to figure out what the next step would be.

"Okay, I'll do it." Kailynn said.

"Do wha-"

"Absolutely not!" Xavier cut Wolverine off.

"I think that's a decision she has to make herself, professor." I said, knowing what Kailynn was thinking, because it was exactly what I was thinking. Not only would it give us a spy in the brotherhood, but it would allow her to find out more about her past, but it would also put her in mortal danger but, I could go with her. This was something that I expressed almost immediately, even as she stood from the table and rolled down her sleeve.

"Oh, and how are you going to do that, hotshot?" Kailynn mocked.

"Like this," I said, dissolving into my liquid form and rolling slowly up her leg and scrunching myself into her back pocket. _Just don't sit on me too hard. _I thought. Xavier chuckled nervously.

"Alright, but we have to make it look good." Wolverine said, his voice muffled through the denim, "We can't just give her away without a fight, they'll think it was too easy."

"Then lets go get 'em, we'll play it by ear once we find them." Kailynn said. I felt her move forward, and could hear the sound of Wolverine's boots as they made their way into the mansion proper.

* * *

As we rode the lift back toward the mansion, I left her pocket. I thought it might look better if it appeared as though I had been splattered into oblivion, and then entered her pocket, suspicions would be down, and I might get through undetected. As the lift stopped, I drew in a deep breath, ready for the battle, no matter how staged. The three of us moved slowly out of the elevator, and made our way down the hall. It wasn't long before we nearly bumped into Pyro and the two cronies he had left as we rounded a corner. The six of us stared each other down for a moment before anything was said.

Pyro was accompanied by two mutants I had never seen before, the one to his right was rather scrawny, blonde hair topping his head, which only stood about a foot above mine, a pair of glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose. The left hand one stood several heads taller than me and was built much the same as the late Juggernaut. His nose was flattened as though it had been broken, and recently, and scars decorated his face, and not artistically.

"Kailynn, I've been looking all over for you." Pyro said, wearing an award-winning smile that caused his face to look more as though he were in pain than anything else. His two body guards smirked. The one on the right had a nervous look about him, I picked him out first.

"Well, you can't have her," I said, looking directly at the spectacle sporting mutant. "And if you think that the Michilen Man and Dr. Nerd over here can get through us, you have a lot of learning to do."

Pyro chuckled, "Oh don't worry, you two will be no problem for them. Scepter, Raedon, get the girl, bring her home. Its supper time, I'm gonna head on back." He said, turning as the two next to him advanced forward. A look at Wolverine, and a look at Kailynn and a wink told me that we were ready. That of course, was before Raedon, or the one I assumed was Raedon, fired some kind of plasma bolt from his hands. It hit me square in the chest, and sent me flying down the hallway, skidding across the floor. I stood, exhaling to drive away the pain, and charged forward in time to throw a flying side kick at the head of the scrawny mutant. He stumbled into a wall, blood trickling from an open wound on the side of his face. I glanced to the right, seeing Wolverine dealing with the larger mutant. The muttonchopped man continued to amaze me as he carefully dodged and counterattacked the larger man, without yet unsheathing his claws.

"Careful, Kailynn, stay back, you're no match for these two." I said, though I know she could have dispatched them as easily as I could have, I wanted to play into their cocky attitudes a little further. Two more plasma bolts caught my peripheral vision, and I was barely able to dodge them, as one whizzed by my ear, singeing the hair on it. I was barely able to regain my balance before Wolverine gave an unannounced cue, by allowing himself to be thrown down the hallway and crash into the wall at the end of it. Two more plasma bolts came my way, now able to recognize them by the smell of burning flesh that the scrawny mutant emitted every time he fired them. I turned to face them, with plenty of time to dodge, but allowing them to hit me. The first caught my head, which at the last minute was liquid admantium, the second hit my chest, which had also dissolved just before impact. Upon impact, my liquid form was splatter across the wall behind me. The effect left me dazed for a moment, but before the larger man could rush Kailynn, and throw her over his shoulder, and before either of them could notice, I had pulled myself together, quite literally, and was tucked safely in her back pocket.

X-Men: 1, Brotherhood: 0

* * *

**A/N: I know, its been a while since I've posted, haven't really been in the writing mood, been reading Dean Koontz a lot (lol) R&R and tell me what you think!**


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